Star Wars: Knight of Remnant
by Jag2853
Summary: The fall of the republic has decimated the Jedi Order. One lone Padawan has managed to escape in a secret R 'n D project created by the Jedi. He wakes up far beyond the galactic rim, on the world of Remnant. Years later he's become no more then a petty thief, Until he is found by professor ozpin. The Force has set him on a collision course with vengeance, and his destiny.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Hello. I've, one again, done a remake of chapter one. I've learned a lot about writing since I started this over a year ago, so I'm hoping by applying some of this I can retain more readers in the future. It's mostly grammatical and stylistic stuff like separating paragraphs when a new person speaks. I also realized some stuff I wrote made it seem like Jayden had just recently landed on Remnant, even though he'd been there for ten years, longer then he'd been in his original Galaxy. I'm working on most of the chapters, I'm up to chapter five now, hopefully I'll get more done soon. Well, please enjoy the remake and PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS!

PROLOGUE: Knight-fall

Every city in the galaxy has a skyline. Even Coruscant, the Capitol of the Galactic Republic. And on that night, ten years ago, that skyline was on fire. People looked out from there apartment terraces and their speeders and from the streets below as thousands upon thousands of clone troopers poured into the temple of the Jedi order and did the unimaginable. They killed the Jedi, guardians of the Galactic Republic.

Across the galaxy thousands of Jedi where being slaughtered. Famous warriors such as Ki-Adi-Mundi on Mygeeto, Alleya Secura on Felucia, Plo Koon on Cato Nemodia, all where gunned down by their clone commanders. Even Mace Windu had been killed only hours earlier on Courascaunt. Even the padawans weren't safe from this slaughter. Jayden Keno was one such padawan. He did what any scared seven year old would do in this situation. He hid in his closet trying to hide from the clones. "Search the room, and be careful, these padawans can be just as dangerous as the knights."

Jayden's breathing was slow and controlled, he sensed two clones. He thought he might be able to take them. But how many where in the hall? Or the next room over? There where thousands coming in through the main entrance. He saw hundreds of Jedi knights mowed down in wave after wave of blaster fire. And what's more, they where led by a Jedi.

One of the clones moved towards Jayden's hiding spot. A seven year old, even if he's a Jedi, has no chance against fully grown men who where bred to be perfect soldiers. This was it for Jayden. Or so he thought. Suddenly he heard blaster shots, followed shortly by body's falling to the floor. "Jayden! Are you in here!" A voice said. A voice Jayden knew very well.

Jayden ran out of his hiding spot. Two clones laid lifeless on the floor, smoking holes from where their blaster shots had been deflected back. "Master Harthow! What's going on, why are the clones doing this?" Jayden was scared and confused. He moved his padawan braid behind his ear as he remembered the sight of his friends as they where murdered by the clones. He'd have joined them if it weren't for some quick thinking on his part and the clones underestimating him. But what if this was happening in more places then just the temple? Where Sarah and Zalibar ok?

He didn't have a chance to find out. "Jayden, we've been betrayed. We need to go, I'm going to send you very far away. I will come for you when it's safe."

Jayden looked to the old Miraluka Jedi, his light green light saber a stark contrast to the sky blue head band that covered his empty eye sockets. "Master, I'm afraid." Harthow bent down and hugged his young padawan.

"Don't be Jayden. We will survive this. What ever comes, whatever you face from here on out, remember this. The Force will be with you, always." And with that Jayden lit his own lightsaber, and the two began to fight their way down the hall.

CHAPTER ONE: Jayden Keno

That night was ten years ago. Jayden's master never came to get him, never had the chance. Jayden realized he'd been lying about getting him from the beginning though when he passed the galactic rim. After weeks in the seemingly endless void between the two Galaxies Jayden landed on this strange world ten years ago. He wasn't sure at the time how the light speed drive had worked passed the magnetic field but it had, and days later, he'd landed on a world called Remnant. Though he'd later learn how it did. This world was different from the worlds he'd been to before. They hadn't developed space travel yet, and technologically they where thousands of years behind. But what was most interesting was that they existed outside of the force. A feat that should have been impossible. The force existed on this planet, but these people had no presence in it. It had taken some practicing, but he eventually learned to sense Aura, something similar to the force.

He spent the last ten years in hiding, he wasn't sure from what specifically, though it whatever it was it was tied with the Sith Lord that had been discovered in the senate. The dark side was at play. Though he never thought about it, it wasn't his concern anymore. Besides, of this worlds governments learned of an alien it could be... unfortunate for Jayden. He'd travelled to all four kingdoms, the wilderness with those soulless monsters called Grimm, and fought everyday just to survive. Survival had become his single drive. So when he saw a man who looked rich walk into the police station, he didn't hesitate to wait for him to leave so he could mug him. That'd been nearly two hours ago.

Jayden waited behind the station in the alley way. There where several trash cans he was hiding behind, which provided great cover, but an awful smell. The man had silver hair, glasses, and wore green, silk clothes. He obviously had lots of money, Jayden needed some of that. He sensed the mans aura and realized he was leaving. Jayden un-sheathed his Ninjato. He had his lightsaber, but a four foot long glowing blue blade wasn't exactly inconspicuous. The man walked out of the station, and Jayden acted.

Professor Ozpin walked down the steps do the police station. He was astounded at how well that your girl wielded her scythe. Qrow had trained her well. The students would be arriving tomorrow so he needed to get back to make final preparations. As he walked down the street he walked in front of an alley. Suddenly he was being dragged by some invisible force into the alley, and when he looked up, he was being held at sword point. "Give me all your cash and valuables and you can leave." The swords wielder demanded.

Ozpin remained calm as he adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "My my my. Is that any way to ask some one for a favor?" Ozpin asked sarcastically.

The sword wielder looked surprised by Ozpins calmness. "You want me to slit your throat? Hand me your money and valuables now or I will kill you." Ozpin remained calm and analyzed his assailant. He wasn't a novice with that sword, he'd received formal training of some type in the past, however long ago that was. It was unlikely he was doing this because he wanted to, perhaps if he appealed to a sense of honor.

"Tell me, whoever trained you in swordsmanship, would they be proud of the way you're living your life?"

Jayden's knees trembled slightly. "What?" Was all he could mange to say.

He showed no sign of being intimidated as he restated the question. "Your master, did they teach you so you could use your skills to rob and murder people?"

Jayden tightened his grip on his sword and pushed it closer to his newest victims face. "And what does it matter to you? Why would you care about wether or not I'm a thief?"

The man stood up, it was a risky move, the blade was within centimeters of his face. Jayden could have cut him down as he stood up. But he didn't. "Well, as a teacher I'd rather not see a child forced to live on the street, stealing and killing to survive. Why don't you tell me your name and where you came from? I'd like to help you."

Jayden swung his sword at Ozpins stomach, Ozpin merely side stepped and avoided it. It was pissing him off. The guy he's trying to mug is trying to appeal to a sense of honor? He'd long since abandoned such things. "That power from earlier, that wasn't a semblance was it?"

"What? How'd you know?" Jayden was shocked and said it before he could think about it. He usually didn't slip up like this, but tonight was just full of them.

Ozpin smiled, the youngster was good, no don't about it, but Ozpin had years more experience. "Tell me, why is it that I can't sense any aura from you?"

Jayden sheathed his sword. The jig was up. He knew he couldn't beat this person, and if he was able to sense that Jayden didn't have aura he couldn't lie to him. He could try killing him, but it could end poorly for Jayden himself. It had been a mistake to try and steal from him. The two where obviously leagues apart now that Jayden thought about it.

There was a saying in Vacuo, "the truth will set you free." Guess it was time test it. "Well, that's cause only people from this world have aura. I'm, wether you believe me or not, from a different world." Fear gripped his chest, what was compelling him to do this? He could have just ran, leaving this man to write it off as a strange encounter and nothing more. Even so, Jayden explained everything to Ozpin, who he was, the force, the Jedi, the war, the Sith, his coming to Remnant. Everything.

Ozpin stroked his chin. What Jayden had said was impossible. But it was really the only way to explain the lack of aura. "I don't supposed you have some proof, do you?" Jayden reached under his shirt, he pulled out a long cylindrical tube with a red button. Jayden pushed the button and, before Ozpins very eyes, a four foot long, blue blade extended out wards. It wasn't like any weapon on Remnant. Ozpin was finally convinced by the boys tale. "Tell me Jayden, do you want to do something with your life?"

Jayden was on guard. The last time some one offered to help him "do something with his life" he ended up working for Roman Torchwhick, which was the worst part of his life since coming to Remnant. Which was really saying something. "What do you mean?"

Ozpin took out his scroll and started doing stuff. "You had such a bright future ahead of you Jayden. What happened to you was a tragedy, but that future can still be yours. Come to my school, become a huntsman, and serve humanity as you used to."

Jayden was stunned. Become a huntsman? Jayden had been a vagabond for most his life now, of course Ozpin was right. Master Harthow would be horribly disappointed.

"What school?" He asked.

"Beacon Academy."

"Beacon academy." Jayden sighed. Well, it was one of the best schools to become a huntsman at, and he didn't exactly have a whole lot else going for him. "All right. I'll go."

Jayden looked from a window on the air ship taking him to the academy. He observed the castle like structure of beacon. Four the next four years this would be his home. He had no idea what would come but, for the first time in years, he put his trust fully in the Force.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Notes: Here is number two of the remakes. Please enjoy, and for those who've read the original, what do you think of the new one?

Chapter 2: The Prodigal Knight

Jedi accumulated few worldly possessions in their life, this was especially true of Jayden, who'd lived on the streets for nearly 10 years. He'd escaped the Jedi temple on coruscant, a mere seven years old, with nothing but his robes, which he had long since out grown, his lightsaber, and the starship that had been a secret R 'n D project in the waning days of the republic. It was the only ship capable of passing the hyper space disturbance that encompassed the galaxy, making travel out of it near impossible. It was believed that the republic could use ships like these to open trade routes to other galaxies, Of course he didn't know this at the time, and he never would have known if not for his final possession, the holo projector of master Harthow revealing this knowledge. Jayden never figured out how exactly Harthow had procured this information, much less when he would have been able to make all this.

As Jayden began pondering his genesis on remnant he was interrupted by an image of a middle aged, blonde, woman giving some mundane speech about the "honor of being accepted into this prestigious academy". What struck Jayden, however, was the part about their "duty to protect the peace". The huntsman and huntress's where like this worlds version of Jedi, but less exclusive, you could be train to be a hunter. To be a Jedi one had to be born with a strong connection to the force, and even then you had under go years of brutal physical and mental training. But even so, the threat of the dark side was always present. Once fallen, few ever returned. Jayden's master, as many masters, would tell him the story of the most famous of the Sith Lords, Darth Revan, to illustrate this point.

Revan was Jedi of great skill and power. From the time he entered the order many knew he was destined for greatness. Few would have guessed what he would become. His fall began at the onset of the mandalorian wars. When the republic petitioned for the Jedi orders help, the council refused as they had yet to fully recoup from there previous war with the Sith. Revan, however, felt otherwise. He, his apprentice Malak, and other Jedi who shared his beliefs followed Revan to the front lines. After four years the republics armies, now under Revans direct command, defeated the mandalorians in the battle of Malachor V, with Revan defeating mandalore himself in one on one combat. Revan and Malak where the republics greatest heroes and two of the most famous Jedi ever. But soon after they disappeared. They returned two years later as dark lords of the sith. They began an attack on the republic, no one being able to figure out where they got the fleet and supplies. two years later the republic was fighting, and successfully losing, the war. In a desperate offense, the Jedi Bastila Shawn confronted Darth Revan, using her battle meditation to gain an advantage against Revan. In the end it was Malak who defeated Revan. By turning his own ship against Revan he not only became the dark lord himself, but gained the power of the sith armies. The Jedi used this story to illustrate how all are susceptible to the dark side, and what it ultimately entailed. Harthow, however, continued with the story to show how even one so twisted in the dark side could find redemption.

Before he could contemplate how this related to his current standing between light and dark he noticed the ship was landing and grabbed his bag, courtesy of professor Ozpin, and the ninjato he'd been using in place of his lightsaber. Despite the strange weapons of this world they'd yet to develop lightsabers, so when he used his light saber, a tonfa variation of the classical style, it was often the result of an emergency, and never resulted in the opponent living to tell about it. His saber style and force mastery where extremely different form what the Jedi had taught. He'd developed them match his needs. The Jedi believed that they should draw from the light side of the force, fed by feelings of peace and serenity, the sith believed in using anger and rage to fuel their power. He drew on the primal instinct for survival.

His fighting style was quick and precise. Ending the battle in as few moves as possible meant living, even if only to do it again. Having nearly two hours before the opening ceremony he decided to have a look around. He observed the castle like architecture of beacon and wondered why such grand design would be used at a school that taught fighting and killing. Jayden noticed many people talking, such as the blonde and the red head he'd seen on the ship, course most of these people knew each other from the schools they'd gone to before. Obviously Jayden hadn't had that luxury. He hadn't trained with other students since his days as a little kid when master Yoda had trained him and about six others he no longer remembered in basic saber combat and force use. Of course he'd always been farther ahead of them and was taken as a paddawan years before any of them. As Jayden wandered his new home for the next few years he attempted to recall the teachings of the Jedi order. He'd been so young when the clones betrayed them. What little he did know at the time had been long forgotten in favor of more important matters, like not being killed by Grimm when he was forced into the wilderness at times. He recalled only that a Jedi must forego deep relations in the name of the greater good. Powerful emotions led to the dark side. Anger and hate where the most dangerous, but love and happiness could be dangerous as well. Jayden couldn't understand how love and happiness, positive, pure, good feelings, could lead one to evil. Before he could contemplate further, he was again interrupted. He soon came to a large, arena like room where students with all sorts of bizarre weapons where fighting.

He saw the blonde girl with the brown jacket at the entrance. "Hey." She said smiling at him. "You look like the kinda guy who could give a good fight. What do ya say, wanna have a go?" She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back. For as long as he could remember, nothing felt better than the adrenaline rush that came with battle.

"If you think you can take me you're on." He responded. A smile spread across his face as they proceeded to walk into a ring. Maybe now he could get a read on where his skills where compared to the other students. On a large monitor above them pictures of the two of them with green bars appeared. Jayden grabbed his sword and drew, the blade in his right hand and the scabbard in his left. He maintained a lose upper stance with a strong base. The girl brought her arms to her hips, the bracelets she had expanded in to full gauntlets which, given the weapons of this world, most likely doubled as a gun of some sort. She proceeded to place her right arm up to a guard position while the left remained at her hip.

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and an obvious scowl. "It's not to late to back out If you don't want to do this." She said mockingly.

Jayden merely replied, "Before we begin, I should at least know the name of who I'm going to beat." Jayden said with a grin on his face.

Obviously amused by his taunt she grinned and replied "Yang. Yang Xiao-ling." Jayden returned the favor, "And I'm Jayden keno."

A buzzer sounded and, using his base as a sort of spring board, he force jumped towards her and, before she could react, rammed his scabbard into her solar plexus. He had intended to knock the wind out of her so he could strike her in the head with his hilt and end the battle as quickly as possible. But she was tougher then he thought and instead used the momentum to propel her self behind him. "Heh, guess she's got some real experience." Jayden thought. She proceeded to hit him in the back of the head. He was right about her weapons doubling as guns. "Great. You've got god damn shot gun gauntlets."

Yang laughed and said "And your scabbards made of steel. I'm not the only who was hiding something!" They both laughed, and for the first time since his child hood he could enjoy a fight instead of just survive it. The proceeded to exchange more blows. Yang tried to keep him away using buck shot. A normal person would have been caught by the hail of lead but Jayden reached out with the force to predict accurately the path of each individual shot would land, thus avoiding all of them.

He closed the gap and tried to slice her with his sword. He merely cut her arm a little as she dodged and round house kicked him, but he blocked with his scabbard and pushed her back. As she lost her balance he saw an opening. All he had to do was jump over her and propel him self straight down and strike her with his scabbard and he would win. He jumped up to the ceiling and did a mid air flip to use the ceiling as a launch pad. He propelled himself downwards. Victory was in reach. But as he was about half way there and preparing to strike, his body tensed. Ever nerve in his body flared with unimaginable pain and, suddenly, he was unable to move. This hadn't happened to him in years.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Notes: I had a dream the other night, and from that I wrote the cross over the world never knew it always wanted; RWBY, The Avengers, Halo, and The X-Men.

After the Red Skull activates an ancient Asgardian weapon there people are sent to a strange world unlike any they've ever seen. These three, Captain America, Wolverine, and Master Chief must join forces with beacon academy to find a now missing student as well as stop Red Skull, who now has powers far more dangerous then any of them could have dreamt.

I'll be posting it soon, please read it if you have a chance!

CHAPTER 3: Tears of the Force

Vader walked onto the bridge of the star destroyer, the second he entered he could feel the mood of the crew shift. He made them uneasy, nervous, they feared him. As it should be. He peered out the view port and looked at the nearly completed station. After nearly twenty years the Empires might would finally be solidified. With this, the ultimate weapon. All would fear the awesome power of this weapon. All would fear The Empire. He sensed him before he even walked through the door. Some one had a message for him.

The Admiral hated having to talk to Vader. The black life support armor and heavy breathing where bad enough, but the ability to read minds was every worse. He knew very little about the Force beyond the fact that it had been the end of his predecessor. He had been choked by Vader, from the other end of the ship no less. He approached Vader anyways, as his job demanded it. "Lord Vader, the Emperor demands your audience." He was trembling inside, any thing could incline Vader to put him on permanent leave. He couldn't read Vader's face. He'd never been more terrified in his life.

"Thank you admiral. However I recommend you keep your thoughts in check during our next interaction."

Vader walked into his private quarters. They're he bowed before the flickering image of the Emperor. "Yes my master."

"Lord Vader," the flickering blue projection of the emperor said. "Our plans are nearly complete. Now you must know of the second half of our plans."

Vader looked up immediately. He shouldn't have been surprised, secrets are the way of the Sith. "Tell me you're bidding, my master." He said, bowing his head towards his master.

Jayden woke up in bed with white curtains drawn on either side. "Oh good, you're up!" A woman in a nurses outfit said.

Jayden sat up. "Ahhhh!" He yelled as he grabbed his head. Felt like he had an awful hangover. "God, what happened?"

"You're nervous system flared and caused intense muscle contractions. After that you took a hit straight to the head. You seem ok now but I want to check you out before lights out to make sure a concussion hasn't occurred." She quickly looked towards the door, "Ms. Xiao- Long, could you please come in?"

Yang walked in and immediately began asking questions. "What the hell happened Jayden! One second you where jumping around like the floor was rubber then the next you where falling like a lead weight!"

"I forgot to wait thirty minutes after eating."

"Pretty sure that's for swimming." She said. He couldn't tell her the truth. Even if she believed him, which would concern him greatly actually, it could put her in danger. Especially if what he saw was a premonition and not a dream."No, pretty sure it's for fighting too."

Yang looked at him unconvinced but chose to drop the subject. "Ms. Xiao-Long, the opening ceremony is in 15 minutes, please take Mr. Keno to the auditorium."

"Sure thing. Come on Jayden." Jayden got off the bed and pulled the curtain to the side. They left the nurses office and headed down the hall towards the auditorium. Of course in a building this large it could take a while to get there.

He wasn't sure what to say to yang. After all he did just bald face lie to her. "So guessing you won that fight?"

"Yeah. After you cramped up like that I had enough time to regain my balance and counter strike. If you hadn't done that you'd probably would have won." She smiled at him and laughed. He wasn't sure how to respond, he hasn't felt that in years. The pain of the living force itself being hurt. When a large number of force sensitives are killed it sends shocks through the force that other force sensitives can feel. And a lot had just died simultaneously. Plus he was too distracted by what he had seen. The Empire? That was definitely a ship from his galaxy, a more advanced model probably but all the same. But the Empire? The last Empire of any major consequence that he knew of was Revans Sith empire.

And a Darth? If what he saw was in fact a premonition then the force was trying to tell him something. The Sith hadn't had significant power for thousands of years. Hell, he thought they where extinct. But it could explain things, like why the clones had betrayed them. Why now though? He'd finally decided to put it behind him, to find his own way and now some supernatural force he barely understood was doing its best to drag him back into it. The Jedi taught the Force as a way of life, to him it was a tool. Of course he'd never had a premonition before, it's possible it was just a dream. An extremely vivid and detailed dream.

"You seem awfully quiet, did I hit you harder than I thought?" Yang started probing again so Jayden quickly changed the subject. "Nah. So you use shot gun gauntlets?"

"Stupid conversation", he thought, but it seemed to work.

"Yeah. There called Ember Cecilia. Holds twelve shot gun shells in each for a total of twenty-four shots, works with slugs and buck shot."

"Slugs? You mean slimy little bugs?" He asked. Of course he knew what she meant, but it seemed funny to him.

"Haha! No, a slug is like a really big bullet for shot guns. What about your sword?" He looked at it. Wasn't anything fancy. Just a basic ninjato with a steel scabbard. He didn't even know about the steel scabbard when he stole it. Course he couldn't say all that. "It's a family heirloom. It's tradition that it be passed onto the next generation."

A bullshit lie, she'd never believe it. "You mean your from a family of huntsman? That's cool!"

"Holy crap she bought it." He thought. "Uhhh, no. We lived out of the kingdoms borders so It was imperative we learned how to fight. I'm the first to become an actual huntsman." He kept digging himself deeper and it was only a matter of time before he cornered himself. "Oh, we're here." Jayden had never felt a greater sense of relief. Now he could change the subject. Again. "Lot of people."

"Well it is the opening ceremony. The entire school is in here."

"Oh yeah."

Soon as he said that she looked over his shoulder and yelled "Ruby! I saved you a spot!" He looked over to see who she was talking too. He saw the red haired girl from the ship walking over. "So enjoying your first day?

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

"Yikes, melt down already?"

"No I literally exploded!" As ruby began recounting her adventures in pyro-mania Jayden saw a white haired girl walking up behind her. He didn't need the force to know things where going to go real wrong real quickly.

"You! Your lucky we didn't get blown off the side of the cliff!" She kept yelling while Ruby tried to apologize.

"May I interject for a second?" Jayden didn't want this to go on longer then needed. "It seems to me that what happened was a simple accident. Would you be as so kind as to tell me your name mam?"

She looked at him with that permanent scowl she appeared to have. "Weiss. Weiss Schnee." Jayden was shocked. That name was the one name he hadn't expected to hear. The largest producer of dust in the world. If she wanted she could end their lives with a single phone call. "And she should have been more careful!"

Jayden had to proceed cautiously. "I'm sure she meant no harm by her actions."

Yang interjected at this point. "Look, you guys just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you try and be friends?" Not likely Jayden thought.

"You really want to make it up?" Holy crap it's working he thought. And Weiss immediately handed her a pamphlet followed by some legal jargon. She then stormed off. It didn't work.

"You handled that well." Yang said.

"Negotiation skills go along way." He jerked his head as he saw professor Goodwitch get on stage to announce the opening speech. As per usual he only half listened. Professor Ozpin gave his speech then they where told to go to the barn. By the time he got back from the infirmary the lights had already been turned off.

The air was still on the mountain side. The instructions where simple. Land in the forest, find a partner, get a relic, don't die. Simple enough. How tall was this mountain again? Jayden would have no problem landing, he had mastered the force, not as refined as Jedi should be, but it worked for him. But unless people here could fly, and the last ten years said otherwise, he wasn't sure what they where going to do. He had his ninjato strapped to his side. But that wasn't all, he also had his lightsaber hidden under his shirt. Probably wouldn't use it, but better to be prepared and all that jazz. His lightsaber was special even for the tonfa variation. He'd designed it so that the tonfa handle came out of the main handle, so it could switch between regular and tonfa. Many questioned his master for allowing him to have such an unorthodox saber, but Harthow insisted if the force told Jayden to make it that way he should do it. Jayden positioned himself at the back of the platform. He'd get more air that way when they launched and he could get a better view of the forest. As if on cue he was launched into the air. Using the force he guided himself. It looked like a regular forest, save for some ruins about a klick and a half north. Seemed like a reasonable place to look for the relics. He began to set himself down, he landed in a branch and used that to spring himself forward. The ground was still about a hundred feet down, he softened his fall and landed with the force.

Unfortunately he landed in the middle of four guys really big guys. "Hey Cardin, get a load of this stick." The guy with a green Mohawk said mockingly. "Sure you're not supposed to be at dance school?"

Jayden sighed. "You'd be pretty thin too if you'd survived in scraps for the past decade." He thought.

The big guy in armor smiled menacingly. "Come on guys. Let's give him a supplementary lesson." Jayden clenched his fist. He could take them easy, and with out his sword. He clenched his fist and began focusing the force into it. The armored guy launched himself at him about to smash Jayden's head with his mace. Jayden leaned back and punched him in the chest. Normally Jayden's hand would have been broken by the impact of his hand on his armor chest plate, but the force pulse he sent through his armor probably bruised the guys ribs. He leaned forward and placed his fore arm on the guys stomach. Using the Force he sent him straight into the other three. All four went tumbling down.

"Later schmucks." He said as he gave them a two finger salute. He ran the rest of the way, covering the distance in about five minutes. When he got to the clearing, it was utter chaos.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors notes: hello again everyone. RWBY volume 2 has been out for a few weeks now and it's been amazing. I apologize for taking longer than usual to update but with work and school I don't have a whole lot of time. I'm going to try and do a monthly update AT A MINIMUM. Well I'm almost about halfway through the events of vol. 1 and soon I'm gonna make some chapters with original content. Some things to look forward to: team RWBY fighting separatist droids, Jayden infusing dust into his light saber, Jayden teaching Yang extraterrestrial martial arts, Weiss learning saber construction, and a face from Jayden's past. As always please leave you're thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER FOUR: A Jedi and a Huntsman

"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!"

"DON'T WORRY! WE'LL BE FINE!"

"OH, I AM SO FAR BEYOND WORRYING!"

"IN A GOOD WAY?"

"IN A BAD WAY! IN A VERRY BAD WAY!" Ruby Rose. Fifteen years old, two years to young to young to attend Beacon. But her raw skill, combat prowess and sheer potential make up for her age. Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee dust company, she has a virtually unlimited amount of energy propellant at her command, and her skills with a sword and tactical genius make her a deadly opponent. They'd been paired together unwittingly, they border line hate each other. Little do they realize they will help forge the fates of two galaxies. However that all meant nothing unless they could get off the giant bird currently trying to kill them. "WELL WHY DONT WE JUST JUMP?" Ruby yelled so she could be heard over the sound of the wind. Weiss couldn't believe she would be joking in a situation like this. Until she saw her jump off the bird, that is. "OH YOU IN SUFFERABLE LITTLE RED..."

"how bout a little horsey?" Blake smiled slightly at the suggestion, "so she can smile!" Yang thought. They'd ran into each other in the forest and, as the rules dictated, they'd become partners. It's not that they didn't get along,mBlake was just really, really quiet, Yangs polar opposite in that respect. It was then yang saw Jayden. "Hey Jayden! Find a partner yet?"

"Nope, ran into another team but we had... A falling out." Yang laughed. She'd fought with him, she knew he was holding back during that fight. And she knew what he meant by "a falling out". "And just how far did the fall, exactly?" Jayden smirked, " 'bout four feet vertically and forty feet horizontally." Blake looked at them utterly confused. Jayden saw her and was immediately suspicious. "A Faunus? God she better not be one of those white fang types." He'd had more then his share of run ins with the terrorist organization, so he'd grown some what distrustful of Faunus as a whole. Then again, he didn't trust many people to begin with. Yang sensed tension between the two and immediately intervened. "Well, Jayden, this is Blake, Blake this is Jayden." She'd hoped to avoid a fight. "Hello." she said, she smelled his distrust, and shared it. At least they where on the same page. He hoped that he'd be proven wrong. "Crap, this is going south real fast." Yang thought. "Hey Jayden, there's an odd number of people this year right? Some ones gonna have a team of five so why don't you join me and Blake?" Jayden saw no flaw with her logic. As long as Blake didn't try and slit his throat in his sleep like the last Faunus he met. "Sure."

And then Jayden wasn't there anymore. Suddenly he saw himself, yang, Blake and others at a different section of the ruins it was vague, but he could tell they where fighting Grim. Very, very big Grim. "Shit!" He'd have some explaining to do later. He reached up his shirt and brought out his light saber. He used the force to release the perpendicular handle and activated the blade. Suddenly four feet of pure, blue energy extended out. the hilt was silver with a black plate where the fingers griped the handle. It was longer than most, it needed to be to contain the second handle. The guard extended an inch over the blade to protect the flap of skin between the thumb and index finger when he used it in saber mode, he tended to hold it higher up for better control while dual wielding.

How could he not realize it? These beings lived out side the force yes, but the force was present none the less, and this place was a nexus for the dark side. The Grim where attracted to the dark energy here, and they grew powerful from it, while he grew weaker. "Prepare for battle!" He swung the saber so the blade followed his fore arm. He could sense there surprise. He could see it. He'd used this to his advantage against opponents thousands of times. For some reason he remembered his time in the outer rim during the Clone Wars. He'd have some interesting war stories to tell them, assuming they didn't think he was insane. But before they could say anything all hell broke loose. And hell apparently involved girls falling from the sky.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: sorry last chapter was so short, I've been a little sick lately. I decided to release chapter five right now to make up for it. So I got to episode eight in the series in five chapters. Next few chapters are gonna be purely original with little of anything that happened on the series. I'm also gonna be rewriting chapter one soon so look out for that. As always please leave your thoughts in the comments and enjoy!

CHAPTER 5: Team RWBY

So, girls falling from the sky, check. Giant birds and scorpions attempting to kill them, check. A borderline psychotic red head riding a giant Ursa into battle and when it dies claiming "awwww, it's broken!" In a depressed voice, check. "Great, now we can all die together!" Yang exclaimed. "My thoughts exactly. We need to do something now or we're screwed." Jayden was pretty sure these where all signs of the apocalypse. That's what it seemed like at least. They'd all forgotten about their shock over Jayden's light saber and where focused on the matters at hand, namely not dying. "Yang!"

"Ruby!"

"NORRA!" Yang and the short girl in the red cloak from yesterday approached each other. "You two friends?" Jayden asked. "Sisters actually. Ruby here is my younger sister. Ruby this is my friend, Jayden." Friend. He hadn't been called that or called someone that in years. Jayden looked at Ruby skeptically. "Aren't you a little short to be a huntress?" Ruby looked at him embarrassed with a hint of being a little mad. "I was allowed to skip ahead two years. So yeah, I may be a little short." She said hanging her head down as if to hide. Oh well, Jayden had more pressing concerns.

"Ok guys we need to get out of here. Just..."

"No! We can take them!" And Ruby, with speed equal to a Jedi master, rushed the Deathstalker. She wielded a large, red scythe which appeared to double as a sniper. Her bullets had no affect on the Grimm's thick, bony plating. She attempted to engage it with her scythe, Jayden and Yang rushed to help her but suddenly a barrage of Nevermore feathers stopped them yang stopped just in time but Jayden had to much momentum, he managed to force push them back. He should have been able to deflect them back to their source, but this place was weakening him by the second. The dark side was strong here. A light side user was at a severe disadvantage here. It was almost as strong as the ancient ruins on Dantooine. They needed to leave and fast. But ruby was about to be impaled by the Deatstalkers stinger. Yang looked horrified, like she was afraid of something happening again, but before she could yell, the girl in the white dress from the day before appeared. In all the confusion Jayden hadn't noticed her, but she saved Ruby by freezing the Deathstalkers tail.

They regrouped and agreed, their objective was in front of them. Time to go. Jayden observed the group. Nine of them, Yang, Blake, Ruby, a girl in armor, the psychotic red head, a guy with gun, knife, things, and a blonde guy with a sword and shield, a regular long sword with nothing special. Jayden immediately liked him. They ran further into the ruins, soon they were where Jayden had seen in his vision. He knew the wouldn't be able to escape with those monsters, time to make a stand. "Yang, Blake! We need to defeat these Grimm or we won't escape!"

"Great idea Jayden! What's your plan!" Yang shouted, eager to hear his reply. "It's simple! Kill them!" And with that Jayden jumped straight at the Nevermore's under belly. He grabbed one of the Nevermore's feathers and tried to stab it, but the beast was to large and all Jayden did was succeed at annoying it. "He's gonna make a great team mate!" Yang said to Blake. Blake started firing on the Nevermore's wings, probably in an attempt to bring it to the ground. Yang jumped straight up to the Nevermore's beak and started firing in its mouth. "I. HOPE. YOURE. HUNGRY!" She yelled. Jayden jumped down to one of the pillars surrounding them, he needed to formulate a better plan when Ruby jumped next to him, the girl in white showed up too. "Weiss, Jayden, I've gotta plan."

This was idiotic. Jayden needed to distract the Nevermore while the girls set up the most convoluted trap Jayden had ever heard of. He remembered the campaign in the outer rim again. It was in the final year of the war, Jayden had just turned seven. He was young, even for a padawan. But master Yoda and master Harthow felt he was ready despite his age. Usually a padawan was deemed read around seven years old, yet he was chosen when he was four. Still many children saw war far to early. The war required as many Jedi generals as possible, and naturally their padawans followed them into battle. Six months before the wars end Jayden and his master where participating in the outer rim sieges. The C.I.S. had been pushed back from the core worlds and the mid rim, but the Republic was facing heavy losses and their forces where spread to thin. Jayden and Harthow where assigned to take a planet, the name of which he could no longer remember, under separatist control. But the biggest problem wasn't the seps, it was the wild life. All the creatures where huge and would rip tanks in half if they got to close. They where a lot like the Grimm in that respect. Jayden was perched on the mountain top, saber and ninjato ready, the nevermore passed below and Jayden jumped on it's back. He's thrust his saber into it's back so he didn't fall off and the Nevermore screeched louder than Jayden thought possible. "Damn it Ruby you better know what you're doing! God how do I distract something this big?" Jayden saw only one option, though he didn't like it. He summoned all the negative feelings he could muster, in place like this they would be amplified a hundred fold, and concentrated them in his hands suddenly, when he couldn't take it anymore he released large arcs of blue lightning on the bird. The bird writhed in pain, it had to set down. The second it touched down Weiss froze the bird to the ground. Jayden jumped over to Ruby for phase two of the plan.

Ruby was being held on a long, black ribbon by one of Weiss's glyphs. Jayden landed behind her. "Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked Weiss. Weiss smiled and said "can I?" Jayden and Ruby asked worriedly "can you?"

"Of course I can!" She snapped back. She released ruby and the tension from the now, amplified by Weiss's glyph, shot her forward. Jayden reached his hand out and pushed her as much as he could. Suddenly she had the birds head in her scythe. She was on the mountain side, Weiss's glyphs keeping her on. She ran as fast she could up the mountain, using recoil from her gun to propel her. She dragged the Nevermore with her, and once she got to the top, she decapitated it in a flurry of rose petals. She looked at them from the mountain top. "Maybe she isn't to short to be a huntress?" Yang said as she did a little half smile. Jayden's eyes where wide in shock. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikkos, and Lie Ren. You recovered the white rook pieces. From this day forward you shall be known as team JNPR." Ozpin was announcing the teams he'd just got done with Jaunes team. Before that he did the guys Jayden met in the forest. Jayden hoped he'd get a rematch with them soon. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xio-long, and Jayden Keno. You recovered the white knight pieces and, due to the odd number of students this year, you shall be a team of five known as team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Jayden was a little surprised. "Well Ozpin obviously has high hopes for our little prodigy!" Jayden thought. "Congratulations Ruby!"

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year." Ozpin said. And if Jayden knew what was happening down at the docks, he'd probably run away that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: well I've decided instead of monthly releases I'll try weekly releases. Volume two of RWBY is beginning to heat up and we can all look forward to that. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

CHAPTER 6: A stranger in a strange land

Yang needed to talk to Jayden. That weapon from earlier wasn't like any weapon Yang had ever seen. And his powers, at first she thought it was his semblance, some sort of telekinesis. It would explain the jumping and moving things without touching them, but she knew it was more than that. He'd known about the Grimm before they arrived, his reflexes where beyond any normal humans abilities, and the lightning. For some reason that had scared her. It was night now, they'd long since finished the ceremony and where supposed to be asleep in their dorm room. But Yang couldn't sleep. She was to distracted by trying to figure out what Jayden was. She had had a feeling he'd lied to her yesterday on the way to the opening ceremony, but now she was sure of it. Since Jayden constituted a fifth member of the team there was an extra bed in the room, between the heads of Ruby's and Yangs beds. She looked at the clock above the door. It was three am already. The other four had to be asleep by now, and apparently Jayden thought the same cause he got out of bed and walked on to the window sill. He jumped up and yang heard a soft thud, nothing you could hear unless you where listening for it. The roof was two floors above decided it was time to confront him.

She didn't change out of her pajamas since she didn't want to wake up the others. She creeped into the hall, she looked both ways to make sure no one was coming. She'd seen a service door on their way to the room, it had to lead to the roof for repairs and the like. She found it and walked up two flights of stairs, when she opened the door to go out to the roof, Jayden was sitting on the ledge, looking at the sky. "It's a beautiful night. You can see the stars clearly from here." She walked up to him and took a seat. "Jayden I..."

"I figured this was coming." He sighed. "You want to know the truth don't you?" Yang looked at him, so he knew she was suspicious. Now if only she knew what she was suspicious of. "You used a weapon that doesn't exist, you used powers that far surpass any semblance, your physical abilities are down right inhuman, damn right I want to know!" She was angry at him, he'd lied to her. It hurt her, she thought he was her friend. "You lied. What exactly are you Jayden Keno?" Jayden stared at the sky, his face looking like he was mourning. "Yang, if a lie is more believable than the truth, then is it still a lie?" Yang was confused, she wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Of course it is. Jayden, I'm your team mate, I'm your friend, please, just tell me the truth. I want to be able to trust you.

She grabbed his shoulder, he looked at it and his face grew sadder. "Yang, growing up I lived on the streets. I would steal comics every now and then, it helped distract from the constant threat of being killed in my sleep. I especially liked the ones about aliens from other worlds." Yang was confused, he was homeless before, and he liked comics? What? "Jayden, what are you talking about?" He stood up and she followed, he looked at her but he wasn't there. "I liked them because I could identify with the aliens. They where scared, alone, confused, trapped on a world that's not theirs. Yang, I'm an alien." Yangs face twisted in disgust. She was furious. After all that he came up with this ridiculous lie? He was awful. She couldn't contain her rage and without thinking about it she punched him in a fury of flames. He flew across the roof and off the building. "Shit!" She yelled. She was mad but she hadn't meant to kill him. But then he suddenly flew up, twenty feet over the roof, did a front flip, and landed on his feet. "Oh my god you're serious aren't you."

"Yeah and thanks for trying to kill me!" He yelled. Suddenly he put his hand over his mouth realizing he might wake people up. He was understandably mad however. "If i weren't a Jedi I'd be dead now." He said I a lower voice. "Jedi? Is that your species?"

He looked at her confused and suddenly realized what she meant. "Oh no. My species is human, like you. Jedi, well a Jedi is, god how do I explain this?" He scratched his head. They met in the middle of the roof and in the clear moon light Yang noticed his features thoroughly for the first time. He was a head taller than her, his hair was black and messy and went down to his mid neck, he'd been wearing the same black t-shirt, blue jeans, and gym shoes since they'd met. This was to be expected if he'd been homeless though.

"If I'm gonna explain what a Jedi is, you need to know what the Force is." He said suddenly. "The Force?" Yang had never heard of any force before. At least not in this context. "Yes. It's how I do all the stuff I do. The Force..." he paused for a second to collect his thoughts. "The Force is a mystical energy field emitted by all living things. It penetrates us and binds us. And connects all living things. Through it, we are one. There are some, like myself, who are more sensitive to this energy field than most. We are known as being 'Force sensitive'." Yang was following him, sort of. "So Jedi are the force sensitives?" She asked, trying to clarify. "Some of us." he responded. "The Jedi are an order of knights who wield this energy field. We swore to protect the galaxy from those who would use this power for selfish gain, at the expense of others." Yang was confused. If they swore to protect the whole galaxy how had she not heard of them? "So you're from another planet?" Jayden smiled, amused at the idea. "Not just another planet. Another galaxy." Suddenly things became a little clearer. But there where more questions she had. "What are you doing here then? Why aren't you in your own galaxy?"

Suddenly his face appeared to be at a funeral again. He turned around and stared at the broken moon as if lamenting. "Because we where betrayed. Betrayed by the man many thought to be the greatest our order had to offer. Anakin Skywalker. The man who killed my master!" He was furious now. But he went on. "I was seven when it happened. He came to the temple with thousands of clone troopers and began slaughtering us indiscriminately. We where no match for the over whelming numbers. The strongest of us where off world fighting in the war. We where virtually defenseless. My master, master Harthow, grabbed me from my room, and took me to the hangar bay. We had to kill hundreds of clones on the way there. They where every where Yang." He was breathing heavily now. His eyes wide in horror and on the verge of tears, the trauma from this awful event obviously as fresh as it was when it happened ten years ago. "I had to step over the bodies of people I'd known my entire life. People I grew up with and considered my family. He took me to a secret room that contained a ship. He told me to get on it and push the launch button, he had set random light speed coordinates. He told me that I must not be found, that the order must survive. After that, the room was breached. Anakin himself walked in and engaged my master in a duel. Their light sabers clashed in a flurry a of blue and green, but my master was no match. In the end he was stabbed in the heart. I quickly ran to the cock pit before Anakin could get in and pushed the launch sequence. In just a few days, I was here." Yang couldn't believe it. Yet for some reason she did. He was starting to cry. She grabbed Jayden, pulled him in, and began hugging him.

"It's ok Jayden. You can stop. I'm not... I'm not sure why but I believe you. I can feel it's the truth. You don't need to go any further right now."

"Thank you yang. And please, don't tell the others right yet. I'll tell them, but I want it to be in my own time."

"Of course. But you have to tell them eventually." They sat back down on the ledge. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Yang had so many questions for him, but she felt it best not to ask to many right now, but she did have one she had to ask. "Hey Jayden, when I punched you off the roof how'd you get back up?"

"Oh that's easy." He replied. "There was a flagpole jutting off the wall. I grabbed that and then it was a simple matter of converting the kinetic energy to momentum and swinging my self upwards. It was almost like I was falling up after that." Yang couldn't believe he'd been able to do that in such a short time. His physical abilities truly where more than human. Jayden pulled out his tablet and looked at the time. "We should head back in. It's almost four and we have class in the morning."

Yang smiled. "Ok, but you have to promise me one thing." Jayden was surprised at this. "What?"

"You owe me a rematch!"

"Ummm, you do realize you won that match, right? You punched me so hard I passed out and got a concussion."

"Yeah, but you where holding back. It's no fun knowing you where holding back and that's how I won." Jayden sighed. "Fine. Tomorrow after class in the emerald forest so no one will see."

"Of course." They made it back to the room, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake where still asleep. Instead of going to his bed Jayden grabbed his ninjato, went to the corner on the left of the door and sat down. He placed his sword in his arms, which where wrapped around his legs, and went to sleep. Yang went to her bed and went to sleep before she could even notice.

Jayden woke up to the sound of an air horn and a screaming Weiss that morning. "GOOD MORNING TEAM RWBY! Now that Weiss is up we can get down to our first order of business, Decorating!" Weiss got up off the floor, dazed and confused from the air horn, and groggily replied "whaa?"

"We still need to unpack our stuff." As Blake said this her suitcase burst open emptying out its contents. "And clean up."

"All right team RWBY, begin operation BANZAI!"

"BANZI!" Ruby, Blake, and Yang all said. Jayden set his backpack under his bed. "Alright I'm done."

"Aren't you going to set your stuff out Jayden?" Blake asked. "I didn't bring much with me from home." Jayden didn't lie. He hadn't brought much with him when he left the temple. As she said that Blake immediately looked guilty as she pulled out one of her books entitled Ninjas of Love. "My my my. What a naughty kitty we have here." Jayden thought as she quickly his it under her mattress. He wasn't sure how the others hadn't realized Blake was a Faunus yet. It was obvious her bow was hiding cat ears. As the girls began to unpack the room got more and more crowded until their beds where in a messy pile in the center. "It's a bit... Crowded." Yang said. "Thank you detective Yang. Any more brilliant deductions for us today?" Jayden sarcastically replied. She punched him off a roof he deserved this one. "Well, we could ditch the beds, or we could make bunk beds!" Ruby yelled. Ecstatic at the thought. Weiss was less so. "That sounds incredibly unsafe."

"Or incredibly awesome!"

"It does seem efficient." Blake said in a rather monotone voice. Weiss, obviously not used to not getting her way, suggested they put it to a vote. "Ummm, that was a vote?" Jayden said. They then proceeded to hang Ruby's bed over Weiss's and place yangs bed over Blake's with books separating the two. They took care of Jayden's bed by suspending it between Rubys and Yang's beds with rope, despite the fact that it had been the only bed that wasn't in the way. "Congratulations ladies. We've successfully broken every zoning law in Vale. And from now on, I'll have to jump to get in my bed. "

"All right, next order of business is... Class at nine." Ruby said sadly. "Wait, nine? It's eight fifty five you dolt!" Weiss yelled. And with that the five of them, with team JNPR following right behind, bolted to class. Jayden smiled. He felt warm inside and, for the first time since he was a child, Jayden felt like he had a family.


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHORS NOTE: Well, another new chapter is done and published. Thanks to everyone who's reading this story, I really enjoy reading all the comments you guys post. I'm currently writing chapter ten and things are really heating up so I can't wait for when I get to publish that. At the time this is published the latest episode of RWBY is a new world of remnant short, but the one before that is amazing and shows team JNPR performing a very well choreographed dance routine. Thanks monty! Well, the main purpose of this note is too figure out how to change the story status from complete to incomplete. Seriously, can some one tell me? I really can't figure it out. As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7: symbol of humility

Jayden was going over notes he'd taken in class during lunch. He needed to learn how to write in this worlds language soon or someone might get suspicious at the weird symbols in his notebook. He'd learned to read English cause he had to, but writing was never of any concern so he never bothered. Jayden had decided to write the notes in Republic basic for the time being, but he'd have to go to the library in Vale this weekend and grab a book on writing. He knew how to read English, plus it was similar to Twileki, so he doubted it would be very hard. Jayden had learned several languages from his master, including Twileki,Wookiee, Rodian, and Toydarian. But the only one with a written language close to English was Twileki. "Hey Ruby." Jayden called out to her. She was sitting next to her sister on the other side of the table. "Yea Jayden?" She looked up from her lunch and responded. "You know where the library in Vale is? I just realized I need to go there this weekend. I need a book on sword maintenance and the library here doesn't have it. I heard of a way to polish swords more efficiently." This was an absolute lie. He had no need for such a book and he had no idea if such a method existed, but if he had said he needed to learn how to write he'd look like an absolute idiot. "I know where it is. Want me to show you Friday after school? I wanted to go down that way to check something out any way." Yang started laughing like she always did when she was about to make a really bad joke or pun. "Well glad to see you're finally starting to be less anti social sis. But he's a little old for you isn't he?"

Everyone laughed but Weiss, she and Ruby had an argument about the fact Ruby was leader and she wasn't earlier after class. Jayden knew all about Weiss's background. Heiress to the Schnee dust company she's more or less set for life. She has a virtually unlimited amount of Dust at her disposal which makes her rapier being dust infused rather appropriate. Shes easily one of the most skilled warriors in the school, but, she is a spoiled brat who's had everyone stroke her ego since she was born. This was probably good for her, having to take orders instead of giving them. What worried him was Blake. He knew of the Schnee's family utter hate for Faunus. Jayden distrusted them cause of the white fang, he'd met too many fanatics who'd see humanity driven into the sea, but he didn't hate them. A friend of his in Vacuo was a monkey Faunus and he was a good guy, he needed to learn to wear a shirt, but he was still a good guy. But if Weiss found out what she was, it could irreparably damage their team.

"Hey Jayden, our rematch still on for after school?"

"Course. Wanna meet up after class and choose our spot when we get there?"

"That'll work." Yang was pretty lax considering what had happened last night. Wasn't everyday you found out you slept in the same room as an alien. Jayden had spent the last few hours before they had to get up meditating instead of sleeping. He'd never had visions before and now, in the span of the twenty four hours since he arrived, he'd had two. It was obvious the Force was trying to communicate with him. He'd hoped the first one was a dream, but if it wasn't, it meant not only had the order been destroyed but the Republic, which had stood for tens of thousands of years as a symbol of hope and freedom, had fallen. He felt like he was playing connect the dots, though he didn't know how many dots there where, and he feared learning what the picture was. He recounted his meditations for the hundredth time that day. They'd yielded no results but he hoped he'd missed something. His master had stressed the importance of daily meditation, it was the only way to truly understand the will of the Force, but it often took days of meditation to reveal even a glimmer of knowledge, much less induce a vision. It wasn't surprising he hadn't received anything, he hadn't meditated in years. There was another way, however, he'd done it before but it was far to dangerous to attempt with out a master to guide him.

While he was studying his notes on Dust he came up with an interesting hypothesis. If dust is an energy propellant than it should be able to act as an energy focuser. Jayden went over the science in his head. "A lightsaber is basically just a blaster bolt that's been frozen. As the plasma travels from the emitter it travels through three crystals that focus it, refine it, and give it it's color. If I change one of them to a dust crystal it could give it special properties like Weiss's sword." He thought. He would need to study dust more before he could attempt it but Weiss might be able to help him. As he thought this the bell rang to go to history class. This was a class he had no concerns about. After learning how to read the next thing he did was familiarize himself with the history of Remnant. It was essential if he was to blend in, and it was actually rather interesting. He put his notes away and got up from the table, he followed with his team as Ruby complained about history being un important to killing monsters.

The final bell rang and Jayden changed into his regular clothes, he took his shirt off and noticed that he was starting to gain a little weight. Once he got to healthier weights he'd begin intense physical training to get back to the levels of a true Jedi. If his team was impressed now they'd be flabbergasted then. His hand made it's way to his solar plexus. He had a large scar there from when he was faced with a MagnaGuard droid in the mid rim. They where designed specifically to slay Jedi. He was lucky to have survived the encounter but it's electro staff had struck him right in the solar plexus. If master Harthow and commander Apache hadn't showed up his lightsaber would have been another trophy for general Grevious. The resulting scar was about four inches in diameter with long legs stretching out wards for another three. He had multiple scars over his body. Some from the Clone Wars, some from battle with Grimm, and one very long one across his back from this one encounter with the White Fang. One he'd been focusing on for a few days now. He put his shirt on, grabbed his ninjato and hung it at his side. He kept his lightsaber on him at all times, hidden beneath his shirt near his waist so all he had to do was grab and it could be ignited in time to block or deflect what ever was coming .

As he left the locker room he saw yang standing on the other side of the hall leaning on a pillar. She was already dressed in her usual clothing, a yellow shirt with a brown jacket and black shorts. She had two knee high boots with a violet scarf tied around one leg. "Jeez, what took you so long?" She complained as she walked over, she still had her usual smile, however. "Sorry I had to walk a quarter of a mile while your locker room was right down the hall from class."

"Stop making excuses. Any ways where specifically do you wanna fight? I was thinking the ruins where we-"

"NO!" Jayden said louder than he had meant. People where starting to look over at the two of them. "Sorry but trust me. Really really bad idea. I'll explain later when no one is around."

They made they're way out of the building towards the forest. With no one around yang started prying. "Mind explaining that out burst just then?"

"Yay!" Jayden thought. "I get to explain more complicated stuff!" This was looking like a long conversation. "Remember what I told you about the force? How it flows through every thing?"

"Yeah?" Yang said not entirely sure. "Well there are some places where the force not only flows, it gathers." Yang looked at him confused. "But the Force is a good thing right? Isn't a place like that great for someone like you?" Jayden paused, he wasn't sure how to go about explaining this but he had to do his best. "Well, not always. The Force is divided into two sides. The light side, powered by feelings of love, tranquility, and peace. And the dark side, powered by hate, anger, and conflict. Those ruins act as a nexus for the dark side of the force." Yang looked a little confused. "So, the force is both good and bad? And that place collects the bad side?"

"More or less. Not sure how though. I only know what a nexus is not how they form. I really need to tell professor Ozpin about that. The Grimm where more powerful there then they should have been. It was almost like they where feeding off of it." Yang looked at him surprised. "Does he know about you being a Jedi Knight?" Jayden realized he forgot to mention that last night. "Oh yeah. I kinda told him after I tried to mug him." Yang laughed at him. "You tried to mug a teacher?"

"Yeah. I have interesting student teacher relationships. Also I'm not a knight. I was a padawan when I left ten years ago so I've never been knighted. I still have the string to my padawan braid even."

"Braid? Like a hair braid?" Jayden was suddenly on guard. She was going somewhere with this and he didn't like where. "Yes." He replied cautiously. "It was meant to denote our status amongst the order. It was a symbol of humility. I always hated it. Hair braids are for girls and they got in the way during battle." As soon as he said he knew he'd screwed up. "All right then. If I win today's rematch you have to get a new braid!"

"Hell no! I just said it was stupid!" He protested. But yang smiled evilly. "But it's one of the sacred traditions of your order, right?" She had him in a corner. But he had one trump card left. "Alright. You win and I braid my hair again. But, if I win, you have to cut your hair." She stopped dead in her tracks. They where at the edge of the forest and she looked like she was in utter shock. "Cut, my hair?" She looked confused, then angry. "You fiend! All right I agree to the terms!" She looked like she was about to kill Jayden. Maybe that wasn't a good thing to say. "There's a clearing up ahead, about a quarter of a klick away." He said. "We'll fight there."

A silence had fallen between the two after that but he had something he had to ask. "Hey Yang, you seem to be taking the news from last night extraordinarily well." Yang just stared at the trees, unsure of how to answer. "I should think you're either joking or insane, but for some reason it just feels right. I can feel it deep inside." Jayden was surprised. They where connecting on a whole different level than friends or team mates. It's almost as if they where connected by the very Force itself. "Hey Jayden, that blue thing you used the other day, what is it?" Jayden reached under his shirt and pulled out his lightsaber, it's handle about the length of two saber handles, and ignited it. "This, is my lightsaber. This is the weapon of the Jedi." He waved it around in small circles, taking in its familiar hum. "It's designed as much for elegance and ceremony as it is for battle." He swung it in a wide arc to punctuate his point. He took down the tree on his left. It fell to the ground revealing a charred stump and trunk. Yangs eyes where wide in surprise. "Whoa." Was all she could manage to say. "If you thought that was cool you'd have a stroke if you saw master Yoda or Windu. They where two of the greatest swordsman the order had ever known." He looked like he was in the past again, as Yang often saw him do when he talked about his life as a Jedi.

They arrived at the clearing and Jayden did something Yang seriously didn't expect. Not only did he place his sword and lightsaber on a rock on his end of the clearing but he proceeded to take off his shirt, fold it and put it with the two weapons. "What are you doing Jayden!" She was embarrassed, her face visibly turning red. "I spent the first eight months of my apprenticeship on a planet in the deep core of my galaxy, there I learned the martial arts and philosophy of the Echani people. The only way to truly know some one is to engage in hand to hand combat with them. No weapons. No armor. No Force. Just you and your opponent." Yang sighed, she almost sounded disappointed, Jayden wondered what she had thought he was doing. Yang took off her gauntlets and jacket. They looked at each other and Jayden asked for a shotgun shell. Yang obliged him and he explained how the match would start. "I'm gonna throw this shell in the air, when it hits the ground, we begin." He threw it about ten feet in the air.

Jayden placed his left hand out front to guard while his right remained near his scar. Yang took a stance similar to boxing with both hands near her face, the right one slightly out more. The shell hit the grass and Jayden ran at her. But she remained still. Jayden jabbed her in the solar plexus and knocked the wind out of her. She started falling, gasping for air, and Jayden took the opportunity to kick her in the face. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Something was wrong. She wasn't this weak and she was far more skilled. "What's she doing? Does she want to cut her hair or something?" Jayden jumped back to assess the situation. She got back up, but she looked different. She was literally on fire and her eyes went from the normal violet to blood red. Jayden stopped. She wanted him to hit her. "Your semblance is energy absorption!" He said in surprise. She smiled and cracked her knuckles. She'd been letting him strike her, absorbing the kinetic energy from his attacks. She was literally using his attacks against him. "Swing all you want but it's not enough to bring me down!" With that she rushed him and uppercut his gut, followed by grabbing his face and throwing him at a tree. The tree splintered and several birds flew away in surprise. These tactics perfectly matched Yang. She doesn't do stealth, she doesn't beat around the bush to find her opponents weakness. She beats a new weakness into them if she has to, it's a perfect parallel to her loud and out going personality. Jayden ran at her to take out her legs but she just grabbed his arm and, with one hand, flung him to the ground on the other side of her, sat on him, arm still in her hands and began leaning back wards. "You give Jayden?"

"I give! I give!" This girl was a monster. Jayden had to remember not to upset her. She got off of Jayden and put her jacket back on. Jayden walked over to his end and put his shirt back on. "I expect to see a braid tomorrow." As she put on her gauntlets. She walked over to Jayden, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and pulled his head down to her height. "Also, never mention cutting my hair again. EVER." She really liked her hair. They got their stuff and yang started heading back. "You coming Jayden?"

I'll be there in a few. You go ahead." She shrugged and headed back to the school. As soon as she was out of earshot he turned around. "You can come out now."

"So, you knew I was here?" Blake said as she jumped out of a tree.


	8. Chapter 8

AUTHORS NOTE: first off, happy Rosh Hashanah to all my Jewish readers. Hope you have a happy new year! Hope to get up to write up to chapter 15 this week since I have four straight days off work. Also, can someone please tell me how to change the story status?

CHAPTER 8: Old Wounds

"I heard the leaves rustling. First I thought it was the wind, but it was too consistent. Good job though, Yang had no idea you where here." Jayden had just finished his rematch with Yang when he called Blake out from her hiding spot. She glared at him, almost like she was studying him. Neither trusted the other, and she had a shaking suspicion they had met before that day in the forest. She also noticed his stature. He was horribly thin, and he had little muscle mass. The exact opposite of what a huntsman should be. "Professor Ozpin wanted me to tell you to go to his office. He has something to discuss with you."

"I see." Jayden had no idea what could have prompted this but he should respond immediately. He picked up his sword and hung it at his side. He then grabbed the strange handle and put it under his shirt. "Well, let's head back shall we?" They started off the same way Jayden and Yang had come. "Blake, why do you hide the fact you're a Faunus?" Blake tripped over her own feet. After she regained her balance she began to stutter out a retort. "Wh-what do you mean? I'm obviously..." Jayden interrupted her. "You're obviously hiding cat ears under that bow. Blake, you don't have to hide, the others wouldn't care." Blake clenched her fist. She punched a tree in lieu of Jayden's face. "But you would! I see the way you look at me, analyzing every single move I make, questioning my motives all the time!" She yelled. Blake hadn't vented like this in front of others before, she usually kept quiet, the less she talked the less others would find out. "You know I'm a Faunus and you hate and distrust me! Why should I tell you the truth!" And she was right, he didn't trust her, but he had very good reasons. "Sorry if I have a hard time believing terrorists. You did attack me two years ago after all." Blake's muscles tensed, her knees grew weak. What was he talking about? He couldn't be that person. Jayden turned around and lifted up his shirt, revealing the long scar going from his left shoulder to just over his right kidney. Blake's eyes widened in realization as Jayden turned around and put his shirt on. Blake couldn't believe it. It had been a few years ago, she'd almost completely forgotten about that incident.

"Your hair was shorter, and you wore a mask, but those moves and weapon. It was definitely you who attacked me two years ago." When Jayden was fifteen, he had been traveling through the wilderness between Vacuo and Mistrel. He came upon a White Fang hide out and, naturally, they weren't too happy a human had found them. He ran away knowing he couldn't take them all on at once, but they sent someone to take him out so he couldn't tell anyone. He managed to escape from the assailant, but not before the ensuing battle that resulted in her sword slashing his back. "Jayden! It's not what you think!" Blake's fury turned to fear. Now that she understood why he didn't like her, and what he knew, it could compromise her whole goal. Jayden was the furious one now. She was telling him he didn't understand? He understood she would have killed him if she had a chance, he understood she was part of the White Fang, an organization dedicated to the extinction of the human race. "Not what I think! You're a terrorist, you tried to kill me, and it's not what I think? What the hell am I supposed to think! Why are you here Blake, what does the White Fang want!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Blake's eyes grew long and weary, like she was on a long journey. "I left them shortly after that Jayden. The assassinations, the robberies, the violence. It's not what the White Fang was supposed to be. So I left. We where meant to be a symbol of hope and peace for both Faunus and humans alike. But when he took control it all went to hell. To atone for my sins I chose to become a huntress and defend humanity." Jayden was still mad at her. She had tried to kill him. He had no reason to forgive her. But she was telling the truth, he could feel it. And he wasn't exactly innocent either. "It's ok. I shouldn't have been so angry."

"You're just going to forgive me?"

"You left right? Then I guess we're good."

"You do realize I tried to kill you right?" Jayden laughed. If he held that against everyone who tried to kak him he'd be mad at a whole lot of people. "You weren't the first and you certainly won't be the last." Blake was confused now. "I'm not sure I understand." Jayden pat her on the shoulder. "You will in time."

They continued to the school when Blake started prying on his past. "You know, you lied to. When you said you lived outside the kingdoms. Why?" Jayden figured this would come up, he had more or less told her when he revealed there first encounter. But he couldn't tell her the truth, not all of it at least. "I did grow up outside the kingdoms. Sort of. I grew up on the streets, I was a vagabond. I survived by stealing and killing. Guess that's why I forgave you for trying to kill me. Not like I haven't done the same before." She was surprised. She looked like she had expected this, but was shocked to learn she was right. "How'd you get into beacon then?"

"Professor Ozpin saw some sort of potential in me. He decided he could show me the right path I guess." After that they came to the academy entrance. "Well, guess you have to go see Ozpin now." Blake went off towards the dorms and Jayden towards the main entrance.

Jayden went to Ozpins office and knocked on the he door. "Come in Jayden." Jayden entered and walked over to Ozpins desk. It was behind the giant clock face on the school, and if you looked up you could see all the gears turning and grinding. Ozpin took a sip of his drink and and checked what appeared to be an email on his computer. "Please tell me, how are you adapting to the school?" Jayden shrugged. "The foods good and that whole not constantly having to worry about being shanked is nice. But that's not all you wanted to talk about, is it?" Jayden could sense if people had ulterior motives easily, which made his distrust of Blake even more unfounded.

"No Jayden. I'm afraid not." Professor Ozpin adjusted his glasses. "What do you know of the Schnee Dust company?" Jayden was surprised. It was a rather arbitrary question as far as he could tell. "Well, my teammate Weiss is the heiress to the company. They're also the largest supplier of dust in the world and if that company went out of business the global economy would shatter, there'd be massive dust shortages, and the Grimm would regain the upper hand. Oh, and I've stolen from them about eight times. They got really nice dust gems in their store houses down in vale. Really good prices on the black market. Oh! But don't tell Weiss I said that." Ozpins eyes grew sad, like he was re opening wounds he'd rather leave untouched. "Jayden, that night we met, you mentioned a war. You fought robots, correct?" Jayden was afraid of where this was going. How did the two questions connect? "Droids, Yes." He replied cautiously.

And with that Ozpin pulled out a box from under his desk and placed it's contents out on his desk. Out from the box he pulled the head of a Trade Federation Battle droid. Jayden fell to his knees, the horrors of that terrible war opened fully for the first time in years. "NO! HOW IS THAT HERE! THATS IMPOSSIBLE!" He yelled, he was breathing heavily and objects started to fall as the room shook. A book case fell to the ground and the clock hands started spinning faster. The emotional trauma had caused Jayden to temporarily lose control of the Force. He grabbed his head, he was beginning to sob now. "Jayden!" Professor Ozpin yelled as he jumped over his desk. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. But I received a message from the CEO of the Schnee Dust company. They discovered strange ship like ruins in a potential dust quarry they where about to mine. They contacted me to tell me they want your team to investigate it. Obviously I couldn't say no." Jayden began to stand up. "I'm sorry about that. You'd think by now I'd have that under control."

"Time doesn't heal all wounds Jayden." He sat down behind his desk again. The room was mess. A globe rolled across the floor and books where strewn all over. Just then the doors bust open.

"Professor Ozpin!" Professor Goodwitch yelled as she ran in. "I heard screaming and then the building shook. Are you all..." She paused as she noticed Jayden, who was still weak in the knees. "Oh, it's ." She said as she adjusted her glasses and posture. "Jayden I believe you know Professor Goodwitch? I told her about your background. She also saw the video footage of your teams fight against the Nevermore. We're fine Glynda, I was telling him about his teams mission."

"So he's aware he is to lead it?"

"What?" Jayden blurted out before he had a chance to think. "But Ruby is the team leader. Why would I lead the mission?" Ozpin looked at him as if the answer should be obvious. "Your experience will be invaluable here. I wasn't sure if these where the ones you fought back then but your response seems to indicate they are. That is why I will have you lead teams RWBY and JNPR on a simple recon mission. I want you to find out what the situation is. Will you need anything for the mission?" Jayden grabbed a chair and sat down. He had his emotions under control now and began running various scenarios and situations in his head. "Ammo. Lots of it. As many Dust rounds as you can get your hands on. We'll also need an energy scan to see how many droids are still active. These droids have twin hydrogen fuel cells, theoretically they can last for up to two hundred years. We also need something to get rid of the ship." Glynda was surprised at the declaration of eliminating the ship. "Why would we need to get rid of the ship?" Jayden stood up and approached her. He knew she'd object but he was adamant in his decision. "The tech on that ship, even if all of it is broken and won't work, would advance this civilization thousands of years. I've seen first hand what happens to worlds when that happens, they become arrogant and proud. They believe so much in their own infallibility that they don't see they're destroying themselves until it's already done. I won't let that happen here. I will not let that be my burden. And Ozpin, I've fought these things before, if its only your standard issue clankers, like the one you showed me, we might not have a problem. But if they have droidekas we'll have some serious problems. And if they have MagnaGuards forget it. Where retreating and coming back."

The two teachers where surprised at how forceful Jayden had been. But Ozpin smiled. Goodwitch was aghast he would dare speak to them that way. "Now see here Mr. Keno! Not only was that horribly disrespectful but you obviously don't understand what a recon mission is!" Jayden went back to his seat. "I'm changing the mission parameters. Where destroying that ship and any droids in that mine."

"Well said Jayden. I'll get your readings and supplies. I will gather the teams on Friday night to discuss the mission. You will leave two weeks from then. In the meantime, I believe you have some things to tell them?" So that time has come. Sooner rather than later unfortunately. Jayden had hoped he'd only have to tell the girls, but now he has to tell Jaune, Pyrrah, Nora and Ren. This would be fun. He walked past Goodwitch, who was astounded at the professors response to Jayden's out burst, And left.

As he closed the door Ruby rushed past him in a shower of rose petals. Jayden seriously wanted to figure out what was up with that. "Hey Jayden. Why'd professor Ozpin want to talk to you?"

"Just wanted to see how I was doin. How's it goin?" Jayden needed to change the subject, he didn't want Ruby to know about the mission yet. "It's going fine. Weiss still isn't talking to me." She suddenly looked nervous, like she'd been thinking along time about something but still wasn't sure. "Hey Jayden, am I a bad leader?" Jayden was surprised by the question. However it was a natural questions for her. She's at least two years younger then everyone else in the school, there won't be someone her age until she's a junior or senior. Plus she's a leader which places an extra burden on her, one he would soon take. He patted her on the head. "Ruby, your skills are not in question, you wield crescent rose with more speed and accuracy then anyone I've ever seen. Your ability to take command is there, like in the fight against the Nevermore. None of that is in question. Your maturity, on the other hand, is." Ruby looked like she was about to cry. "So Weiss was right, Ozpin did make a mistake."

"No, you where definitely the right choice. However you must realize you are not alone, Blake, yang, me, even Weiss, we're all there for you. You aren't alone in this, so you need to learn to work with us, not only as a leader, but as a team mate. And a friend." Ruby wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem. Also we still goin to the library tomorrow? Ruby already looked cheered up. "Yup, and that stuff just a second ago. You where saying that to yourself to, weren't you?" Jayden paused for a second. "Yang told me a little bit about what happened the other night." She said.

"How much?" He was angry again. If Yang had said even one wrong thing he'd wring her neck. "Only that you where in some order of knights, and you where betrayed. After that you lived on the streets for a whole decade. Which make me wonder, why'd you come here?" Jayden was relieved. He thought to himself "So yang didn't say anything to sensitive. She gets to live a little longer."

"Ruby, my masters final words where to live, that the order must survive. I focused on surviving all those years thinking that simply by not dying, the order lived. Well, Ozpin made me realize, what good is me living if I don't uphold the orders ideals? In reality, the order was dying, and my soul was going along with it. I'm trying to reconnect to my roots, and by becoming a huntsman, I believe I will obtain this." Ruby looked at him, amazed at what little Jayden had told her. "I'm so sorry that happened to you Jayden. If you wanna talk about the rest later, I'll listen."

"Thank you Ruby. Also, can you help with something?" She looked at him curiously. "Yes Jayden?"

"Can you help me braid my hair?"


	9. Chapter 9

AUTHORS NOTES: Hello again! Hope your all doing well. At the time this chapter is posted, it's the day the Fate/Stay Night remake comes out. I've been excited for that for months! Also I'm gonna be posting some original works on Fiction press, so check those out! As always please enjoy!

CHAPTER NINE: Remnants

"Mr. Keno. Mr. Keno. MR. KENO WOULD YOU PLEASE PAY ATTENTION?" Professor Goodwitch yelled from the arena. Jayden and the rest of his team where in combat practice, but Jayden wasn't paying much attention. It was Friday, that meant he had to tell his team his true identity. "Sorry professor Goodwitch. Is it my turn to choose an opponent?"

"Mr. Keno, I hope you pay more attention in the field then you do in class." She added with a glare as she adjusted her glasses. "And yes, now please choose your opponent." She was still mad at him from the previous night due to his little outburst, Jayden knew he had been disrespectful, but he knew his decision was right. Either ways, Jayden already knew who he was going to fight, he needed to do some research for the upcoming mission. "Jaune Arc will be my opponent." Glynda went from mad to confused in seconds, suddenly her glare fell and was replaced with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Keno, are you sure you don't want somebody more your skill level?" Jayden looked over at Jaune, he looked even more unconfident than usual, and Goodwitch's comment just then hadn't helped. "Positive."

Jayden grabbed his ninjato and walked down to the arena with Jaune, sword in one hand shield in the other. A team was only as strong as it's weakest member and, despite being its leader, Jaune was easily the weakest member on team JNPR. Jayden trusted that professor Ozpin had made the right choice, but for the life of him Jayden couldn't figure out why. Jayden's new padawan braid bounced at the side of his neck. The girls had had fun with that last night after Jayden had Ruby braid it in the traditional style and he buzzed the rest of his head. His hair was now short, bout half an inch long.

Jayden and Jaune went to opposite sides of the arena and faced each other. Jayden drew his sword in his right hand and held the scabbard in the other. Jayden knew he could beat Jaune easy, but he needed to test his skills, figure out just how easily he could do it so he could figure out how easily a battle droid could do it. Glynda stood outside the ring. "Fight, begin." Jayden rushed Jaune and smashed his scabbard upwards at his shield like a base ball bat. Jaune stumbled backwards and almost fell out of bounds, Jayden couldn't let the fight end so soon so he used the Force to bring Jaune back in, only twitching his middle finger toward himself to do it. Jaune tried to hit Jayden with his sword, but his form was sloppy at best. The arc of his swing was far too wide, and it was too slow. Jayden side stepped and round house kicked him in the stomach and he fell to the floor. His stance was thin and high. Jayden could have pushed him over with a flick to the fore head. And his shield was constantly at his side leaving his front wide open, he should have been able to easily block Jayden's kick with his shield. Jayden knew all he needed to know. Now he just had to figure out how to win with out embarrassing Jaune too much. Jaune lunged at Jayden using his shield as a ram. Jayden could have avoided this any number of ways, he could have jumped over him or force pushed him out of the way. But instead he took it head on. Jayden fell to the floor and skidded halfway across the arena. People in the audience where confused, Jayden should have been able to avoid that easy. "Better end this now before they figure me out..." he thought. Wasn't any good pretending to let Jaune get some hits in if every one realized what Jayden was doing. Jayden stood up and as Jaune swung his sword to at him Jayden parried with his sword and force pushed him out of the ring with his other hand. The match was over.

Jayden was in the locker room after class, he had monster class with professor Port next. Everyone hated him except Weiss and Jayden. Weiss liked him cause he praised her abilities as a huntress. Jayden liked him cause he thought his ridiculous story's where funny, though it'd be nice if he didn't try to hit on Yang every class. As Jayden began to walk out the door he bumped into Jaune. "Oh, hey Jayden. Uh, good match earlier." Jayden looked at Jaunes face. He'd been looking worse then usual since Cardin started picking on him. He always looked depressed now, and his confidence had somehow managed to plummet even lower. Jayden scratched the back of his head. This was more awkward then he'd imagined. So being a Jedi or a Huntsman didn't remove the awkward teen angst, apparently. "Sorry man. I, uh, this is going to sound weird but I just wanted to test your skills."

"For the upcoming mission?" Jaune replied. Jayden was shocked. "Wait a sec. You know about the mission? How'd you find out?" Jaune took out his scroll and opened his messages. "Ozpin sent memos to Ruby and me. Told us we where receiving our first mission early, and you where gonna lead it. My first mission and I don't even get to lead it." Jaune sat on the bench and burried his head in his hands. Jayden suddenly realized what he'd been taking away from Jaune. He'd taken away his first mission. Taken away his chance to prove himself to his team, and to himself. How was Ruby feeling about this? "Look Jaune. I'm so sorry. It's just, this is something I need to do. I can't explain right now, but I will tonight. Along with everyone else." Jaune looked up at him. He didn't look any better but he tried to smile. "All right, hey, I need to head to class. Get to partner with Cardin again." Oh joy Jayden thought. Put a bully with his favorite victim. That always works out just great. Jaune got up and headed towards the door. "Hey Juane." Jayden said. Jaune looked back at Jayden to see what he had to say. "May the Force be with you." Jaunes face got that stupid look of his. "May the wha?" But Jayden was out the door before he could finish asking.

"Hey Jayden, unless the Force gives you the power to pull information out of thin air I think you may need to open a book or turn on your computer." Jayden and yang where in their room working on a history project for professor Oobleks class. They where back in their street clothes and Yangs jacket was hung over the back of her chair. Jayden was glad he'd done lots of research about this worlds history as a kid, cause with as much coffee as that guy drank it was like trying to listen to a Gungan attempting to speak Toydarian. "Sorry Yang." Jayden reached behind the computer to turn it on. The screen lite up and began the start up sequence. "Jayden, you ok? You've been a little out of it today. You have that dream where you came to class with out a shirt again?"

"I've never had a dream like that though." Jayden said as he squeezed his eyebrows together. "I know I have." Yang purred and hit Jayden in the shoulder. "Seriously though, you ok? You look like Nora when she sees a butterfly outside the window during history." Jayden wasn't sure what to tell her. He'd been comfortable enough to tell her what he knew, but now it was mostly speculation. And he didn't want to tell her about the mission till tonight. "I'm fine. Just not used to getting up in time for class yet." As if to punctuate this statement he rubbed his eyes. The computer finally went to the home screen and he searched for the names of the generals in the last Faunus war.

"Hey Yang, did I tell you about the Sith?"

"I don't think so." Yang responded. Jayden needed to explain this to her. It was bound to come up later. "The Sith are, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of the Jedi. While we use the light side of the force, they wield the dark side. For thousands of years, they fought to control the galaxy, coming very close at times. Darth Malak, Darth Nihilus, Darth Bane, and hundreds of others all controlled formidable Sith empires, and commanded force powers many would consider to be... unnatural." Jayden stopped. Remembering the first time he'd used Sith lightning years ago. It was a basic dark side technique, but using it, suddenly he was full of rage and hate. All he wanted to do was kill. "But for all the strength the dark side gave them they had one, unavoidable, fatal weakness. They where too greedy and power hungry. For all their power, it was not the Jedi, nor the Republic, that defeated them. It was their own infighting. The constant coups and betrayals. Eventually they destroyed themselves." He stopped to make sure Yang was following. "Wow. That's really dark man. But their gone, so what does it matter?"

Jayden remembered what his master had told him, about a friend of his who had died a few years before Jayden had been born. "My master had a friend by the name Qui- Gon- Jinn. About three years before I was born he came before the council and told a story none of them believed. While on some desert planet he had been confronted by a man he believed to be a dark lord of the Sith. While none of them believed him, he eventually proved his theory correct when he and his apprentice confronted this Sith again on the planet Naboo. The Sith Lord was destroyed, at the cost of Qui-Gons life. But that wasn't the end." Yang looked at Jayden, her eyes conveying a sense of concern. "What do you mean? He died didn't he?"

"Yes. But there are always two. A master and an apprentice. One to hold the power, and one to desire it. That is the rule of two. And we didn't know which one he was. Soon the Clone Wars began, led by a new Sith Lord, and soon another was discovered within the senate, I don't know who exactly, but they finally succeeded in destroying the Jedi Order after thousands of years."

Yang got up from her chair and sat on the table next to Jayden. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the ceiling. "Jayden, every time you talk about your life before coming to Remnant, there always seems to be a deeper reason behind it. What's happening?" Jayden looked at yang and started tearing up. He'd lost everything cause of that war. Now he had to fight one last battle. "Yang, I'm afraid to lose everything again. It's all coming back, things from my old life, and I'm not sure how or why. I lost my life after the Jedi where destroyed. I don't want to lose this one. What if they find me here?" Yang reached over and pulled his head into her stomach. She smiled and told Jayden in a calm voice, "Jayden, what comes will come. We can't hold back the future, all we can do is meet it with full force when it comes." Suddenly the door opened and they looked over to see Ruby in the door way.

"Ummm, am I interrupting anything?" Yang suddenly let go of Jayden causing him to fall out of his chair. Yang started stammering at Ruby. "N-nothing. We where just researching for our history paper." Yang grabbed her jacket and threw it up on her bed for no apparent reason. Ruby was young but she want stupid. She knew they where up to something but decided to let it go. She shrugged and looked at Jayden, who was now sitting on the floor. "You ready to go to the library? It closes at six thirty so we need to get going." Jayden looked at the clock. It was currently four and class had ended at three thirty. Seven hours till he debriefed the girls and team JNPR. "Yeah let me grab my sword and I'll be right with you. He telekinetically grabbed his sword. Officially his semblance was telekinesis, but Ruby had seen him use Sith lightning against the Nevermore so she knew it was something more than that. He stood up and strapped it to his side. And with that they walked out of the room while Yang sat down to continue researching.

They walked to the city which was about five miles away, Ruby and Jayden could have covered the distance in a matter of minutes, but instead chose to walk. "So Jayden, what are you gonna do to debrief the teams?" He'd almost forgotten that Jaune and Ruby already knew about the mission. He needed to apologize to her. "I'm sorry about taking over our first mission Ruby. I didn't want to, but it's something only I can do." Ruby smiled and looked Jayden in the eye. "I'm sure Ozpin wouldn't have put you in charge unless he was sure you could handle it. So what is the mission anyways?" They where at the academy gates now. As they left Jayden decided Ruby would need to know what exactly was happening. "Ruby, your the leader of our team. So I think you deserve to know." Ruby scrunched her eyebrows. She looked really confused. "What do I deserve to know?"

"During the initiation. You saw what I did right?"

"You mean the jumping and the lightning and the laser sword?" Well so far so good. Now he had to make sure she didn't think he was insane. "Exactly. What did you think about that?" She looked to the ground. Her face scrunched up. "It was weird. It, I'm sorry, but it seemed other worldly." Jayden was surprised at how close she got on the first try. "That's because it was Ruby. I know this is gonna sound weird but, I'm from another galaxy." Ruby's eyes widened in shock. She gasped loudly and started looking Jayden over. "That is so..." She paused as if she wasn't sure what to say. Jayden feared the worst. He started to shrink back, afraid of her reaction. "COOL!" She yelled. Jayden was exasperated at how well she was taking it. "Ohmygod your from space! What's it like? Is every one human? Are there little green men?Oh oh oh! What kind of weapons do you have there!" Her voice got higher with each question, suddenly Jayden was doubting her sanity. "Uhh, you do realize I told you I'm an alien? Right? You're just gonna take my word for it?" She looked at him with a goofy smile and innocent, puppy dog eyes. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I? You say your an alien I believe you. Why would you lie?"

"Well shit this is easier than I thought." Jayden said even more confused then before. They where walking through the forest now and Jayden decided to answer her questions. "Well my galaxy is the next one over. It's a spiral galaxy surrounded by a magnetic storm. Usually light speed travel becomes impossible in this storm so travel between galaxy's is impossible. But my master was heading a secret R 'n D project to make it possible. That's how I got here. He sent me with the only working prototype here."

"Why'd he do that?" She asked him. Jayden didn't want to bother Ruby with the details so he told her the basic story. "There was a coup I think. We where betrayed but you know that. I was really young so I don't know what was happening exactly but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. He didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands." Ruby looked more excited then ever. It was pretty cute actually. "Wow! What was your life there like?" Jayden was starting to laugh. Give her coffee and she'd put Oobleck to shame. "I was part of an order of knights, we where charged with protecting the Galactic Republic from evil. I was training under a Jedi master, an old Miraluka named Harthow Daya. He was a wise and cunning warrior. Many thought he'd get the next open seat on the high council. But like I said, things happened." Ruby still looked utterly amazed, her emotional stamina was astounding. He knew something that would make her squeal. He reached under his shirt and pulled out his lightsaber. He ignited it and Ruby squealed in absolute delight. "What is that weapon called!" Jayden laughed and sung it in wide arcs side to side. It's hum hypnotizing her. "This is called a lightsaber. It's the weapon of the Jedi. We originally used metal swords, but that was tens of thousands of years ago. Before we where even called Jedi. The sword was chosen because it could act more as an extension of the warrior then a blaster." Jayden put it back. They where approaching the edge of the forest and he didn't want to advertise to the whole city he had a non existent weapon. Ruby had calmed down now, but Jayden suspected she was suppressing it more than anything. "So what do you call your swords?" Jayden was confused. "Uhhh, I call them swords?" He said confused. Ruby snickered at his response. "I know that but what are their names? Didn't you name them?"

"And why on Remnant would I do that?" He said. The whole concept of naming weapons had always seemed ludicrous to him, though lots of warriors seemed to do it. But Ruby didn't seem to notice. "It helps forge a deeper emotional connection with your weapons. You need to trust them in battle just as you trust your team." Her voice became lofty as she spoke of weapons, this girl had a strange affinity for them.

It was five o'clock now and they just got to the city. Jayden had been here about ten or twelve times before he was found by Ozpin. It was a large city, one of the largest in the kingdom of Vale. Really easy to blend into. "Hey Jayden, can we stop over there real quickly?" She pointed to a dust shop on the other side of the street. The window was broken and an old man was attempting to fix the sign. "Still not open yet. Ugh. I'd better apologize."

"Ruby what did you do?" Jayden said, suddenly afraid of what she'd been doing in her free time. "Someone tried to rob me while I was looking at magazines there. I may or may not have beat the crap out of them with Crescent Rose. Mostly may."

"Of course you did. Cause calling the cops that are right across the street is just silly." Jayden said as he pointed to the police station. Oh well. "Who was robbing you?" Ruby took out her scroll,and showed him a picture. "Oh god not this guy." Jayden hadn't seen him since he was twelve or thirteen, he really didn't want to meet him again. "You know Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked. "I may or may not have worked for him at one point. Mostly may." Jayden said. When he was younger Jayden had run into Torchwick. He'd offered Jayden a job as one of his thugs. Jayden wasn't in any position to refuse so he took it. "I was one of his lackeys. I hit up small businesses and ran even smaller scams, he was good at keeping me under his thumb. I left when he told me to start mugging woman and children. At least I got my sword out of it." He unsheathed his ninjato about halfway and put it back in. "That guys awful. Hope they catch him soon." Jayden grunted, that guy really pissed him off. "If I find him first they'll be finding bits and pieces of him in the forever falls." Ruby laughed. "Isn't that a bit extreme Jayden?" Ruby May have thought it extreme but Jayden didn't. That man was evil.

After Ruby spoke with the owner they went on to the library and Jayden explained the mission parameters. "Several weeks ago the Schnee Dust co. discovered a new potential mine. Upon further inspection they found large, ship like ruins and what appeared to be signs of teraforming. They didn't encounter anything and chose not to inspect the ship, though they brought back a severed robot head. I was able to identify it as a battle droid head from my galaxy. Our mission was originally going to be a simple recon mission." Ruby looked at Jayden quizzically. "And now?" Jayden stopped. She'd probably disagree with Jayden and want to go back to the original recon mission. "Ruby, the tech on that ship is far to dangerous to allow in the hands of any one. The new mission is as follows, search and destroy." They approached the library and ruby sat down on one of the steps at the entrance. "And how do you plan to do that?" She didn't have a problem with the plan? Jayden was surprised. "You're ok with destroying the ship? You don't think it'd be better to use that tech?" Ruby shrugged. "You're the leader on this mission. If what you decide to do is destroy it then so be it. But, just be sure it's the right choice." Jayden didn't have to think about it. He knew it was the right course. "I'm positive. Also we need to prepare for a potential battle. Just because they didn't see any doesn't mean there aren't any battle droids still active. I'll tell you the rest tonight."

They left the library an hour later. Jayden had gotten a book on writing for first graders. The wound his pride would receive if the girls saw that would far outweigh the one he had received by braiding his hair. Jayden told Ruby about the Force, the Clone Wars, their betrayal. Stuff she'd need to know for proper mission context. "Ozpin said he'd give us an explosive of some sort. If we can get that to the main reactor and set it off the ship will be blown to kingdom come, along with about half the mine." Ruby looked at him and addressed a very serious issue with the plan. "How will Weiss react to you blowing up her grandpas mine?" Jayden had considered that. He knew exactly how to deal with it. "She doesn't get a say. She has to many emotions tied into this to make logical decisions. Ideally she wouldn't even be on this mission but I don't get to make that choice." Ruby snickered. "Better not let her hear that or she'll have a fit."

"You mean like the other day when you tried to help her?" Ruby and Weiss where talking again, apparently they'd made up. "We reached an understanding there. She said she'll try to be the best teammate she can be if I try to be the best leader I can be." Jayden rubbed Ruby on the head. "I'm sure you'll be a fine leader Ruby. The Force has blessed us with you." Ruby looked at Jayden confused. "What do you mean Jayden?"

"The Force brought us together for a reason Ruby. Just as it brought team JNPR, team CRDN, Team CFVY and and all the other teams together. And the force gave us an excellent leader." She smiled in that dopey way of hers. "Thanks Jayden. So tonight, what are we doing?" Jayden brought out his scroll and showed ruby the presentation he'd made. "I've made holographic readouts of the droids where likely to face. I'll explain the mission and how to effectively eliminate any droids we face." Rubys eyes glowed as she looked at the droids, they where so strange and exotic to her. "What about those ones?" Jayden's eyes got steely and glared at her. "Run. Do not engage, do not alert others until you are outside. If you fight those you will die." She'd pointed to the MagnaGuard. Many Jedi had fallen at their hands and Jayden wouldn't let his friends suffer the same fate. "Come on Jayden. They look scary but they can't be that bad."

"These droids killed hundreds of Jedi by them selves! They nearly killed council members Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu, two of the greatest Jedi ever! None of us have a chance." They'd gotten back to the school and where silent the rest of the way to their room. "Hey Ruby, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it Jayden?" She responded. "I'm going to do some deep meditation. If I'm not up in four hours for the meeting I need you to wake me up." And with that Jayden jumped on to his bed and began to travel to the deepest regions of the living Force.


	10. Chapter 10

Authors Note: Hey! Not much to say this week, but if you guys wouldn't mind, please head over to FictionPress and read some of the short stories I've written. It's under the same username. Please enjoy!

CHAPTER 10: Spirits of the Force

Jayden woke on a strange world. He stood on the shore of a lake, one of lava and molten rock. It was a perfect back ground for the fight that was taking place.

Anakin and Obi -Wan. Obi-Wan and Anakin. They where heroes of the Clone wars. They where master and apprentice. They where friends. Now, they are sworn enemies. They fought furiously on a small platform over a lake of lava, their sabers clashed in a flurry of blue and white. Obi-Wan jumped from the platform over to the shore realizing he couldn't defeat Anakin in such a confined area. "It's over Anakin! I have the high ground!" Obi-Wan shouted at his former apprentice as he stood on the glassy shore of the lake. Anakin stood on the platform over the lake. He had an aura of arrogance and rage about him. "You underestimate my power!"

"Don't do it Anakin." Obi- Wan pleaded. And with that, Anakin Skywalker jumped over Obi-Wan who, in one swift movement, cut off one of his arms and both legs. Anakin fell to the ground and rolled down to the shore, stopping just short of the lava. Obi-Wan was a Jedi master. He was supposed to be fully in control of his emotions at all times. But at this time, it was just to much for him, possibly any one, to bear. The feelings welled upside of him, he felt like he'd physically explode if he didn't release them. "You where the chosen one! It was said you'd destroy the Sith not join them! Bring balance to the force not leave it in darkness!" He was almost asking Anakin this He was confused by what happened to his former student, how he turned to the dark side. His heart wasn't merely broken, it was destroyed. He turned around, picked up Anakin's lightsaber, and began to walk away. "I HATE YOU!" Anakin growled, his voice less then human now. Obi-wan stopped and turned around. His eyes full of sorrow and regret. Tears filled them as he took one last look at the man that had been his greatest friend. "You where my brother Anakin. I loved you." A splash on the shore caught the cuff of Anakins pants, soon his whole body was engulfed in flames. And with that Obi-Wan-Kenobi walked away. He was dazed and felt lost. He found himself talking to his own master, though he knew he couldn't hear him. "Qui-Gon, could you have been the father he needed, the father he could look up to, instead of the brother he needed to surpass?" Obi- Wan Kenobi never looked back.

The scene changed. Jayden was in a medical room. Anakin's charred body laid on an operating table. He was fully awake as they attached the cybernetic limbs and black life support armor to his body. He screamed and writhed in agony. To keep anyone awake during this was inhuman at best. They placed the black respirator faceplate on him and, as the table rose, a helmet was paced on his head. He began breathing. It was heavy and labored. But it was breathing. A man in a black cloak walked to Vader. Jayden's eyes widened in horrified realization. His lips trembled and his knees grew weak. He couldn't believe the face he was seeing. "Lord Vader... can you hear me?"

"Yes, Master. Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she all right?"

"It seems in your anger, you killed her."

"I...? I couldn't have! She was alive... I felt it!" The new dark lord ripped himself off the table and lumbered under the weight of his new mechanical limbs. They where heavy, and the workmanship appeared to be deliberately bad for reasons Jayden couldn't ascertain. Jayden couldn't see his face, but he could feel his emotions. Anger, hate, sorrow. He screamed all these in one, simple word. "Nooooooooooooooooooo!" Vials shattered and droids where crushed, the chosen one had lost control of his power along with his emotions. And with that Palpatine, the one, true, dark lord of the Sith turned and smiled at this, his ultimate victory. And then he looked at Jayden and it faded. He raised his hand and Jayden woke in more pain then he'd ever felt before.

"JAYDEN!" Ruby had been yelling and shaking his body for ten minutes now. He wouldn't wake up. Nothing she did could do it. "YANG! WEISS! SOME ONE HELP!" She was panicking. She needed to get him to wake up. His body suddenly began to shake violently. Was he having a seizure? Suddenly, he sat bolt upright and began breathing heavily. His heart was beating fast enough that she could visibly see it through his shirt. Weiss and Pyrah ran in the room. "Ruby what's wrong!" Weiss said. "I don't know! Jayden had been meditating for about four hours. I tried to get him up at the time he told me to but he wouldn't wake up. I tried for ten minutes when I think he started having a seizure!" Pyrah began checking Jayden's body for signs of injuries or concussion. "He looks fine, but it's almost like he was... Electrocuted?" Pyrah helped Jayden on his feet, his heart rate was slowing down now. He had to be held up by Pyrah though or else he'd fall. Ruby's eyes where wide in fear. "Jayden what happened?" Jayden got off Pyrah and leaned on Ruby's bed post. "I," he paused to take a deep breath, "I'm fine. I'll explain what happened after the meeting. You won't understand till then." He labored to raise his hand. A flash drive floated off the desk and slowly moved towards him. He grabbed his sword and used it as a walking stick as the four of them went to the debriefing room.

Jayden was disillusioned. Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Republic, was a Sith Lord? No. If that was true then it was all a scam. The invasion of Naboo, the separatist movement, the Clone Wars, the attack on the temple. All orchestrated by one man, moving the entire galaxy like pawns in a chess game. The Jedi hadn't predicted it, and for their blindness they where destroyed.

Yang, Blake, and the rest of team JNPR where already in the debriefing room when Jayden got there. He was walking by himself now and his heart rate was back to normal. They were gathered around a holo display projector in the center of the room. They were talking, none of them sure why they where there except for Jaune. Weiss and Pyrah gathered with the rest while Jaune walked towards Ruby and Jayden. "So, ready to debrief them?" He asked. Jayden had made the best preparations he could given the little info he had. "Yeah. I've made holo displays with all the data I have." Jaune was still depressed. Things had only been getting worse since he decided to hang out with Cardin all the time. "We should get goin then. Let's tell them Ruby." The three of them walked towards the rest and Ruby started the meeting. "Guys, two days ago we received word that we'd be receiving our first mission early." The teams where shocked. They weren't supposed to receive missions until second semester. Ren was the first to voice what they where all thinking. "Why would we receive a mission so early?" Jaune stepped up to deliver the most shocking news of all. "Please direct all questions to Jayden, he'll be leading the mission." Again, they were surprised. Jayden knew the time was here. He decided to just rip the bandaid off. He inserted the flash drive to the holo display and a holographic image of the target lit up. "Several weeks ago the Schnee Dust company located a potential mine and, upon further exploration, a space craft of extra terrestrial origin." The group was silent, except for Yang. "Jayden, is that from-?" Jayden cut yang off. "Yes Yang. It's... It's from my galaxy." The group was silent. Now he had to explain it all. "Everyone, the truth is, I lied about being from outside the kingdoms. Well, not exactly a lie, but a half truth. Ten years ago I came to this world from another galaxy. I was part of an order of knights who guarded the Galactic Republic. For a thousand generations our order were the keepers of the peace. We served as everything from body guards for politicians and settlers of trade disputes to preventing full scale war. Until the end, when we became generals. Three years before I came here there was a large separatist movement. War was all but inevitable. To fight the hordes of the separatist droid army we created an army of our own. An army of Clones. Bred to be the perfect soldiers we, the Jedi, led them into battle for three very long, very bloody years. This ship some how crashed here sometime during that war. The Schnee dust co. asked we scout it to determine what it is, since they have no idea. But I've changed the mission parameters. Where destroying it. The tech is to dangerous to allow out side." Everyone was quiet. Blake was wide eyed and Norra looked utterly shocked, for once she was speechless. "You honestly expect us to believe such utter non sense?" Was Weiss's response. Jayden figured he'd have a hard time convincing her. "You tell us your an alien, that that ship is alien, and you expect us to just buy it?" Ruby stood up to his defense. "Weiss we can prove it!" Now Jayden was the one who was surprised. "How?" Weiss and Jayden both asked. She looked at Pyrrah and smiled. "Pyrrah, you know how to sense aura right? Well, Jayden doesn't have any."

"That's impossible! Every one has aura, it's the soul itself!" Ruby had this planed out perfectly. "It's a manifestation of the soul. Doesn't mean the soul has to manifest that way. Check out Jayden." Pyrah walked towards Jayden and placed a hand on his cheek. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Suddenly she was surrounded by a red light. Jayden remained unaffected. "I- I don't believe it. There's something there, but it's not aura." She stepped back. She wasn't sure how to interpret what she'd sensed. "That was the Force. It's similar to Aura yes, but vastly different." Ren stood up and moved towards the holo display. "That ship is obviously alien in origin. Plus if you don't have aura, that means you can't be from this world." He was right. There wasn't a single known case in history where a human didn't have an aura, normally it'd mean they didn't have a soul, and only Grimm didn't have souls. Many never utilized it, but all had it. Norra appeared to have accepted Jayden's revelation rather easily. "So how we going to smash something that big?"

"I believe I can help in that area." Jayden looked towards the entrance and saw professor Ozpin. "Jayden, what where you planning in those regards." Jayden turned toward the hologram, and pointed to the underbelly of the ship near the back. "The main fuel reactors should be located around there. If we manage to rupture them they'll form a chemical reaction with the air turning that ship and half the mine into a giant fire ball." Ozpin looked closer at the hologram and turned towards Jayden. "Besides the ship itself, which appears to be in a relatively functional state, there seems to be about one hundred individual energy signatures, not counting organics." Jayden yelled and smashed his fist on the display table. The image flickered for a second. "Great! One hundred fucking battle droids! What else? They got some Grimm to?" The teams where surprised by Jayden's sudden out burst. Ozpin adjusted his glasses and took over the debriefing. "In two weeks time you will be sent to these coordinates to begin your mission. You will go through intensive training tomorrow to learn to fight the new enemies you will face." He turned towards Jayden. "I suggest you be ready." And with that he and Jayden both walked away. Yang turned towards Ruby. "Something's wrong." And followed him.

"We where idiots!" Jayden yelled as he cut a boarbatusk in half with his lightsaber. An Ursa rushed him from the left but Jayden jumped and shot it with a powerful arc of electricity. "We where blind, and arrogant, and stupid!" He'd come out to the forest to blow off steam. It all made sense now. The Jedi, the Republic, the Separatists, they'd all been played by Palpatine. He'd been directing both sides to drag out the war and grant himself more and more emergency powers until he was already an emperor in all but name. Palpatine had been the man in his first vision. He couldn't see his face in the hologram and his voice wasn't enough for him to recognize, but in that vision he induced earlier he'd seen the literal past. Jayden had an exceedingly rare ability known as force flow where ones essence can, with meditation, travel back in time, though only to observe. Palpatine was scared and disfigured, but it was him, he could feel it. The Ursa lay on the ground, it's breathing slow. Jayden looked at it, and cut its paw off with his ninjato so it would bleed out. He didn't want it to just die, he wanted it to suffer. "Jayden that's enough. Put it out of its misery." Yang walked up to Jayden. They where in the clearing they'd fought in the other day. "Why! It's just a monster. Why doesn't it deserve to suffer?" Jayden was furious. Hatred filled him. He hated Palpatine for using them, the separatist and republic for falling into his trap, and the Jedi for not seeing it. Yang activated Ember Cecilia and shot the monster in the head. "If you act this way towards monsters, eventually you will become one. Jayden, what's wrong. You've never been this way before. You aren't this kind of person."

"Am I? Guess you really can't tell who any one is then!" She walked closer to him, Ember Cecilia still active. "Jayden what are you talking about? You've been out of it since the meeting now your cutting down anything that moves?" Jayden was seething. "I found out what happened to the Jedi! Chancellor Palpatine, the Chancellor of the Republic, was a Sith Lord! God we where idiots!" He was actually laughing now, the stress finally getting the better of him. "We couldn't even tell the one behind it all was in front of us the entire time! We deserved it, in our arrogance we believed all the rumors people spread. How we where all powerful and invincible." Yang walked towards him, she tried to grab his shoulder to comfort him. In his rage he raised his hand and sent her flying back several yards. She slammed into a tree hard enough to crack it. She got up, her right arm hung loosely at her side, in his rage he'd dislocated it. He ran towards her to help her. "Yang! I'm sorry! I didn-." She punched him in the face and he fell on the ground. "Fine then, when your done having your fit come back to the dorm room so we can talk. She turned around and walked toward the school. Her eyes where Violet.

Yang had long since left, he was sitting on the rock he'd placed his stuff on the other day scolding himself for his actions."Why the hell did I do that!" He was angry at himself now as well. He'd hurt Yang, the only one who tried to comfort him. He couldn't forgive himself for that. "Jayden." Jayden stood up and ignited his saber. He hadn't sensed anyone so the voice startled him. "Whose there! Yang, you come back?"

"Jayden, go to the ruins." Jayden unsheathed his ninjato. He couldn't sense anyone so he had no idea what direction they where in. "I said whose there!" The trees where still. It was the middle of the night, you could just see the shattered moon through the tree tops. Jayden started going over plans in his head. He could try and run to the school, it's cowardly but he couldn't fight a person he couldn't see. But first he had to figure out where this person was. "Why do you want me to go to the ruins?" Jayden was stalling, if this guy kept talking he might figure out where he was. "You must complete the trials of knighthood Jayden, only then can your training truly begin." Jayden tensed, his eyes widened and a cold sweat broke out on his fore head. The trials? No one on this planet knew about those. So how did... "Who are you! Show yourself!" He still didn't show himself. Jayden's hand a where still arcing with electricity, he raised his hand and walked forward, he had to find this guy, he could be a serious threat to Jayden's presence on Remnant. "You won't find me Jayden. But fear not, I am a friend of a friend."

"Mind giving me a name jack ass?" Suddenly the trees began to rustle violently. Jayden rose several feet off the ground. "My name, Jayden, is Qui-Gon-Jinn."


	11. Chapter 11

Authors notes: in this chapter when I write in italics it is to denote that the person speaking is not speaking in English.

CHAPTER 11: Trial of Flesh and Spirit

As the yellow lightsaber pierced his heart, Jayden couldn't help but recount the events that had led to this moment.

Jayden fell to the ground, his lightsaber bounced out of his hand and rolled away. Jayden's mind was racing. "Qui-Gon-Jinn? He'd died two decades ago. No way this guy is him." "Becoming one with the force upon death is not the only option Jayden. I have learned the secret the secret of immortality, the goal the Sith strive for but can never achieve." Jayden was sweating, that was a perfect response to what He had just thought. Had this guy read his mind? He was stunned. It defied all logic. Even with his limited knowledge of the Force he knew once you died you lost all individuality and became one with it. But still, when he rose off the ground he felt something flow through him, a presence he couldn't quite explain. "You're actually Qui-Gon-Jinn?" The leaves stopped rustling and his hands no longer arced with electricity. "Yes Jayden. I've come from the nether realm of the Force to complete your training." Jayden breathed deeply, he needed to compose himself. He believed this was Qui-Gon, he could feel it. But why did he want to train him? "Why come now to train me? Why not ten years ago before I forsook everything I believed in and became a degenerate thief?"

"You weren't yet ready. You've become a powerful warrior in your own right, your hardships have done you well. But now, more so then ever, you are susceptible to the dark side. I can't make you accept my training, but if you refuse, it is all but guaranteed you will fall." Jayden couldn't believe what he was hear. His hardships had been good for him? "I starved, fought with wild animals for scraps of food, been nearly murdered while I slept in the gutters more times then I can count, and your saying it was good for me? What kind of bull shit is that!" Jayden wished he could see him and get a look of his face. "It may not have been easy Jayden, but we often mistake our blessings for curses. Think, where has this pain led you?" Jayden was confused now. But he thought about earlier after he learned about Palpatine, the anger and rage he felt. He'd lost all sense and, in his anger, hurt one of his friends. "I'm not sure what you mean, but I will accept your training. It's better then falling to the dark side."

"Very well. Go to the ruins, there you shall receive the trials of knighthood. Normally you would do this in the trial chambers on Coruscant, but the ruins will work. After that your training will begin." Jayden took out his scroll. It was already two in the morning. "Looks like I'm pulling an all niter."

Jayden arrived at the ruins, he looked around for any wild Grimm, here even a small one could be extremely deadly. "Ok, now what?" He was at the ruins where they got their relics but he had no idea where to go from there. "Go east, there should be a cave where the night terror you fought lived." Jayden grunted. "So you where watching?"

"I've always been watching. You where never alone, you simply didn't need my help at the time." Didn't need help. Jayden sure thought he needed help when he was attacked by a horde of Beowolves, or when that one Faunus stabbed him in the right lung. Jayden found the cave and was about to enter. "Jayden, once inside I will not be able to interfere as per the rules of the trials. May the force be with you." Jayden sighed. So he had to enter a cave that was most likely monster infested, face what would most likely be one of the most grueling tests he'd ever take, and the voices in his head couldn't come. Great. "Well, let's get goin then." And with that, he entered.

As soon as he entered something felt off. His reached at his sides only to realize his sword and saber weren't there. He looked so his clothes, they weren't his usual jeans and t-shirt. He was wearing his old Padawan robes, bigger, but they where his, he just knew some how. He'd heard about the trials from his master. There where five of them though he couldn't recall the names. He continued on through the winding tunnel for hours, avoiding any offshoots so he didn't get lost. Suddenly he heard scuffling, he turned around and reached for his lightsaber, only to remember he didn't have it. He raised his hand and lit it with electricity, and standing before him was a Zabrak youngling wearing robes just like Jayden was wearing. "How..." Before he could finish his sentence the Zabrak lit his lightsaber and plunged the yellow blade into Jayden's chest. He tried to scream as it pierced his heart but no sound came out, he'd never been in more pain in his life. "This is it." Jayden thought. "This is how I die." Only he didn't. Jayden stumbled back and leaned on the cave wall. "You abandoned us Jayden. We needed you but you ran and hid while the clones slaughtered us." Suddenly out of the shadows a Wookiee youngling walked over and stabbed Jayden in his stomach with a green lightsaber. "While I lay dying like an animal you stepped over my body to escape, I screamed for help but you didn't even look back!" Jayden couldn't remember either of them, but soon dozens more started walking over. Stabbing Jayden all over his body and saying things like the first two. "You left us."

"You betrayed us."

"Where were you when we needed you?" They felt framiliar. Jayden mustered his voice, though it was little more than stammering. "Wh-who are you? A Rodian stabbed Jayden in his shoulder while a human looking girl approached him. A young Miraluka with a purple head band. "You don't even remember me? You left while your brothers and sister where massacred, you abandoned the entire galaxy, you abandoned me and you don't even remember! I thought you where better than that Jayden!" Jayden's eyes widened. "Sarah?" He suddenly remembered, he knew them from the temple. He'd trained with them, he'd lived with some of them. That girl was a friend of his from outside the order. "The clones where every where! What was I supposed to do?" The Zabrak from before looked at Jayden directly in the eye. His face twisted in disgust. "You could have stayed and fought!" Jayden was sweating, he should be dead but he was staying alive somehow. This was a vision? It looked and felt so real he couldn't believe it, somewhere deep in his mind he didn't."Then I'd be dead to! My master told me to come with him so I did!" The Wookiee growled, angered by Jayden's statement. "Then at least you'd have died with your comrades!"

"No! Sarah, i wanted to see if you and Zalabar where ok but I had to go! I- I had to! I-I-im sorry." Jayden fell to his knees, he couldn't take the pain any longer. They where right. He had been afraid. Even when his master ordered him to go with him he should have protested. Instead he let his fear take hold and ran away like a coward. "I'm sorry I left you. I-I should have stayed."

Jayden remained on his knees. He had green and blue and yellow blades sticking out all over his body. He wanted to stay there until he wasted away to nothing, the shame of his actions back then finally brought to the surface. And with them greater resolve. "I'm sorry I abandoned you. But it happened and that's that. I can't atone for those sins, but I can make them better." He got up and started pulling the saber in his shoulder out, as he did the vision that put it there disappeared. Suddenly Ruby, or at least a vision if her, appeared and pulled another one out. So did a vision of Blake and Weiss, and as they did several more visions disappeared till only two sabers remained. And from the shadows emerged Yang, who pulled out the final two. Jayden turned towards the last remaining vision, it was Sarah. "I'm sorry I left you, I truly am. If I could do it over again... I'm not sure what I'd do. But I do know this, I have a new duty, to my new friends. I swear, I won't fail them like I failed you. I won't fail this world like I failed the Republic. I will become a huntsman and protect my new home." As Jayden said that, Sarah smiled and faded away along with the visions of the girls.

Jayden exited the cave only to be blinded by the blazing morning sun. He looked at himself, he was in his regular clothes with his sword and saber where clipped to the belt loops on his jeans. He took out his scroll and looked at the time. It was seven in the morning, he had an hour to get back to school before the girls realized he'd never come back."congratulations Jayden, you've successfully completed the trials of flesh and spirit. This is an amazing feet for any Jedi." Jayden looked for Qui-Gon only to remember he didn't have a physical manifestation. Suddenly an idea came to him. "Master Qui-Gon! If you manged to keep your identity is it possible master Harthow did as well?" Jayden was elated by the proposition he might be reunited with his master after all these years. If Qui-Gon had done it then why couldn't his master have done so as well? He was a highly respected Jedi who trained several heroes of the clone wars, surely if Qui-Gon had done it so to could his master. "I'm sorry Jayden. I had intended to teach your master, along with others, in this technique. Unfortunately i died before my own training was complete. It took many years for me to be able to manifest my voice like this." Jayden was suddenly crushed. He'd let his hopes get so high only to be disappointed. "I see. Oh well. You said completing these two trials where an amazing feet, how so?" Jayden needed to change the subject. He was far more disappointed then he wanted to let on, not that it worked with Qui-Gon. "The trials of flesh and spirit are the two most grueling trials of the five trials. Many have gone insane from them, yet you successfully completed both simultaneously. Jayden, if you will accept, I shall take you on as my apprentice." Jayden un clipped his lightsaber. He analyzed the long silver handle. "Master Qui-Gon, I will take your training, but I'm not sure I actually want to be a Jedi. We where arrogant and blind, what if we where meant to be destroyed?" Jayden had been thinking this over since he'd learned the truth. Perhaps the Jedi being destroyed was a good thing. The order was tens of thousands of years old, older then the Republic even. The order had survived the worst crises in galactic history for thousands of years and where often praised as heroes. What if the order had begun to lose its way? "I don't know Jayden. I don't know what path you should take, only you can figure that out. If the force leads you to be something other than a Jedi, so be it. My training is only to allow you to unlock your full potential." Jayden breathed deeply. Qui-Gon was right, he could only trust the Force to,take him where he needs to be. "Yes, master. So tell me, when does my training begin?"

"Right now. When you go to your room find a blind fold. You will cover your eyes, relying only on the force to see, for the next two weeks until the mission." Jayden knew exactly what Qui-Gon was getting at, his master had had him do the exact same thing in the months leading up to the war. The Miraluka where a naturally force sensitive species, combine that with the fact that their sun had long since stopped emoting rays in the visible spectrum, they stopped seeing with their eyes all together and used only the force to see. "But I did that training years ago! Why do I have to do it again?"

"You've fallen out of practice with it. You've come to rely on your physical senses far to much, you need to learn to rely on more on the Force." Jayden sighed, he really hated that training. When he'd done it all those years ago he had kept bumping into people and other things. "Ok, I'll do it." It was nearing eight, if he didn't get to the school ASAP the girls would realize he'd been out all night, and he wasn't sure how he'd explain to them the voice in his head had kept him out to go on a vision quest. He used the force to run to the school, no one was around so he jumped to the top of the building where he'd told Yang what he was. There where no windows on the side he'd jumped up so he didn't risk anyone seeing him that way. He ran down the access stair and into the hall. He slowed to a normal run so he didn't wake any one up. Unfortunately when he got to the room he was met be Weiss standing out side the door.

"Where have you been! We've been up for nearly two hours looking for you! Yang woke us up at six and said you'd never come back!" "Shit." Jayden thought. "They woke up earlier then I expected." Weiss took out her scroll and sent a message to the others. "He came back to the room. He looks ok. Come back." It read. They went inside the room to grab some stuff before their training. "Sorry for worrying you guys. I was out taking care of some... Personal stuff." Weiss glared at him, she was not an easy person to please. Ever. At all. "Sorry? You tell us your an alien, which I still don't believe, you have a tantrum, you storm off, your out all night with out telling us, yang comes back with a dislocated shoulder and your sorry? You think that's enough? Where your team and you've been keeping us in the dark this entire time! You didn't trust us enough to tell us. How where we supposed to help you?" Weiss stormed out of the room. Jayden couldn't help but chuckle. "Not even two hours and I've already failed to keep that promise Sarah."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Bounty

"Stop aiming center mass Blake. This isn't a Grimm or a person, only a head shot will work." They where in the sparring room, shooting holograms of battle droids so Jayden could effectively teach them how to dispatch droids. "What's the difference?" Blake said as she put in a new magazine, she looked at him as if they'd just met for the first time. In a way they sorta have, now that she knew the truth about him. Jayden asked for her gun and shot the droid in the head. Two bullets made it in causing the hologram to turn red. "Back during the war, Captain Apache told me a standard Trade Federation battle droid can still transmit data for several days as long as the head functions, even if severed from the rest of the body, last thing we need is for droids to be transmitting our location. Two shots usually does the trick." He handed Gambol Shroud back to her and turned to Yang who was practicing on a super battle droid Hologram.

She was standing still and making every shot with a hail of buck shot. "Yang, if you stand straight in front of one of those you'll be mowed down before you can throw a single punch, your best bet is to get them from above or below." She glared at him and did as he said, she jumped several feet in the air and shot one, did a front flip, and landed behind two other holograms and shot them from beneath. They where getting the hang of where to attack the droids rather easily, they'd been training in combat for years before now so it should be a natural transition. Soon he'd have them practice how to take out Droidekas. He was surprised none of them questioned the red cloth covering his eyes, or maybe after last night they just don't care.

"What should we do if we face anyone with a weapon like yours?" Ruby said as she finished taking out ten holograms out with Crescent Rose at once. Jayden took out and ignited his lightsaber. "Shouldn't be a problem, the vast majority of lightsaber users where Jedi, and even if we do face any one with a saber, Weiss, try and strike me." Weiss turned to him and took a ready stance. Without saying anything she used one of her glyphs to speed towards Jayden. His saber met her rapier, but it didn't go through. It glowed brightly, but there was no damage to the sword itself. They disengaged and Jayden turned towards the teams. "The metals and metal alloys commonly used for weapons have a unique property that make them saber resistant, theoretically you should even be able to block and deflect blaster bolts." This had proven to be an annoyance many times,but it wasn't unheard of for some metals to be resistant to light saber, like Mandalorian iron. They where all doing very well, even Jaune. "Ok guys, where gonna practice how to take out droidekas. Several make shift droidekas walked into the room and activated their energy shields. "A droideka is one of the most dangerous droids there is. It's twin repeating blasters allow it to mow down entire crowds in an instant, and it's shields are near impenetrable. It can, however, be pierced by a slow moving object." To punctuate his point he reached into a bag and pulled out a small ball. He activated it and slowly rolled it into the shield. It went in with minimal difficulty and released a magnetic pulse that took out the shields. "You'll be doing that until you can do it right every time. Once you get down the right speed it shouldn't be too hard."

They'd done that all Saturday, it was dark out now and everyone had left, except Jayden who was fumbling around trying to clean up. "Hello Jayden." Jayden stood up only to slip on one of the magnetic bombs. "Hey Pyrrah, hope you don't mind if I sit. I thought you went back to your dorm with your team?" Pyrrah helped Jayden up, and they walked over to the bleachers. "Well Jaune's hanging out with Cardin again. Ren is trying to make pancakes and Norra is eating pancake batter. I thought you might need help."

"Thanks but I got it, just a little hard with the bandana over my eyes." Qui-Gon had insisted Jayden learn to not rely on his eyes. He'd wanted to protest but master Harthow had managed just fine with out any eyes. "Not with that Jayden, earlier I could feel there was a problem with you and your team, we all could. What happened after the meeting Jayden?" Jayden sighed. So it was that obvious? "Pyrrah, did I tell you what happened to cause me to come to Remnant?"

"No, I don't believe so."

Jayden got up, thinking about it still made him furious. He raised his hands and suddenly all the used bombs and droidekas gathered in a pile in the middle of the room. He always felt more power when he was fueled by rage, not a good sign. "We where betrayed. No, not betrayed. We where deceived. The leader of the Republic, one of the most respected men, believed be one of the few honest and moral politicians left, was a Sith, the ancient enemy of the Jedi, the order I belonged to. He tricked us into fighting in the war while he secretly led both sides, slowly gaining more and more power till he was able to destroy us and turn the galaxy against us." Pyrrah got up and jumped onto the floor. "Come Jayden, I find when I'm having a bad time a little sparring helps. Mind using that light saber of yours?" Jayden jumped onto the floor with her and ignited his saber. He turned the energy output to the lowest setting so he didn't accidentally cut her in half. "Jayden, what happened after the meeting?" Her sword and his saber clashed. He jumped back a sent a telekinetic blast at her, she stumbled backwards but instead of falling she stood on one hand and threw her shield with the other. Jayden side stepped and rushed her. "I was so angry I went to the forest to vent it off. When Yang came to see what was wrong I got even angrier, and... and I hurt her." Pyrrah switched to her gun and fired off three shots which Jayden managed to deflect. "I see. And then what?" Jayden hesitated to tell her. But he felt he needed to. "You probably won't believe me, but I was contacted by an old Jedi master, one who's been dead for a while." Pyrrah stopped fighting, she put her sword and shield away. "You where contacted from beyond the grave? Jayden, are you feeling ok?" He figured this would her response. Worse yet he wasn't sure how to convince her. "He tells the truth." Pyrrah was wide eyed, she was turning around trying to find the voice. "You weren't kidding Jayden?" Jayden was about to speak when Qui-Gon interjected. "I've come from the nether world of the force to complete Jayden's Jedi training. I apologize for startling you." Jayden told her about his adventures the night before. "Qui-Gon had me complete two of the trials of knighthood, they kept me out all night. I tried to get back before they woke up but they had gotten up early. They'd been out looking for me and now here we are." Pyrrah nodded like she understood. "Why didn't you tell them before hand? Why sneak around their backs? Jayden, they're your team and you're not letting them in." Jayden was about to protest, until Qui-Gon said his piece. "She's right Jayden. You can't be afraid to drag them into the dangers that may come with you. It is the will of the Force that they be by your side. So let them be their."

"But they don't need to be dragged into our world! It's too dangerous, If I had been killed in the temple I'd never have come here and none of them would know of the Jedi, the force, any of this." Pyrrah turned Jayden around and looked him in they eye."Jayden, someone once told me, no matter how bad things are..." Jayden interrupted her. "It could be worse?" She smile and laughed. "No, it can't be any better. And it can't be any worse. Cause that's just how things are, and they can't be any other way." Jayden took a deep breath his emotions where running amok again. He had to control them. But it was to much for him. "Well what the hell am I supposed to do!" Pyrrah Smiled and said two, simple words. "Trust them."

"JAYDEN YOU DOLT DONT DO THAT!" Weiss pushed Jayden off his work bench and took the dust crystal out of his saber hilt. "What the hell where you thinking! Where you trying to give the work shop a new skylight?" Jayden had been experimenting with dust as a saber crystal in the schools workshop. He figured Weiss wasn't going to want to help him so he went about it him self. He'd cut it to the precise specifications for his saber and was going to begin on the lowest energy output in case of complications. Jayden got off the floor and rubbed his elbow. "Mind explaining what that was for exactly?" Weiss turned to him with his saber in hand. She looked more livid then ever. She started shaking it at him and yelled at him. "You where gonna use this to focus an energy output weren't you? This is the wrong crystal for that! You need a specially designed crystal to focus an energy output of any kind, anything else will overload and blow up on you. Most dust contains natural energy reserves, so adding any more would cause it to overload and blow up." She took out her scroll and pulled up a page containing info on the special dust crystal she had referred to, he took her scroll and started reading. "Let's See, contains no natural energy, can absorb energy... Ten thousand Lien!" Weiss took her scroll back and handed Jayden his saber. "It's the only thing that'll work. Don't suppose you have the money for it." Jayden sat down on the bench and took out his scroll. "No, but I know how to get it. I'll need your help though." Weiss looked confused. "And what would you need my help for? You better not ask for a loan!" Jayden pulled up a web page and began to look for something. "No, nothing like that. I used to do some bounty hunting for some cash. Private ones only, they didn't pay well but they didn't to any thorough background checks. Ah, here we are. Gov. Bounty, thirty thousand lien. More than enough, what I need though, is for the bounty to be in your name." Weiss took the scroll from him and reviewed it. "Why does it need to be in my name?"

"The government does do thorough background checks on all bounty hunters. Ozpins fake identity he made for me only goes so far. But if you're heading it they'll only check for you. The government is notorious for loopholes like these." Weiss continued to read, she was looking concerned. "Are you sure it's a good idea? This guy is really dangerous." Hassan Dimund, a known drug distributor but the authority's could never find enough evidence to convict. Recently the cops criminal informants began telling of rumors he might be running weapons to the White Fang. "He is, but I'm sure we can take him. I've got some guys I know on the east side of Vale, one of them should be able to give us a lead." Jayden didn't expect her to say yes after last night. But he figured if he wanted to show he trusted them this was an ok start.

"I'll do it." Jayden was shocked, his jaw went a little slack. "Really? I figured after this morning you wouldn't help me with anything." Weiss pursed her lips together and her jaw got tight. "Well, I may have been a little over reactive. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Sorry." The sorry sounded like it physically hurt her to say, but it was genuine. "And I'm sorry for not trusting you, it's just... That stuff doesn't come easily to me. But that's no excuse, I promise I'll trust you and the others more." Weiss smiled for once. "Thank you. Now if where gonna do this we need to leave immediately, we have Monday off so that should give us some time. We need to pack our things and leave now." She left to go to her locker, Jayden had almost everything he'd need; sword, saber, his only clothes. He'd go to the room and fill his back pack with emergency supplies and provisions. As he left suddenly some one grabbed his shoulder. "I'm going with you." He turned around to see Blake was the one behind him, she had a very bad habit of appearing out of nowhere like that. "What why?" Was all he could say. "Ive heard of him, that guy might be running weapons for the White Fang right? I can't sit back and not do anything. And if we run into the White Fang you may need my experience." Jayden was skeptical. "If you come and we run into some of your old buddies Weiss may find out." Blake's bow twitched, probably her ears from some nervous tick. "I'm prepared for that, I don't want any of the reward, just to stop this guy from hurting anyone." Jayden sighed. If she was this adamant telling her no wouldn't do anything. "All right, but we need to get going. We'll stop by the room to grab our things but then were leaving immediately."

"Got it."

They had all the gear they'd need on the trip, all that was left was to tell Ruby and yang. He didn't want to take them with him, it wasn't that they couldn't handle it, but a group of five couldn't move covertly. Before he could get his thoughts together, the two of them walked in. "Hey guys. Whats with the gear, going camping?" Ruby said as she walked in. "Not exactly Ruby, Jayden needed to get some money, so Blake and I are going to help him." Weiss said to Ruby and yang as they came in. Jayden put the last of the stuff in his pack and put it on his back. "Sorry we didn't invite you to come with but this requires a smaller group. Hope that's ok with you two." Yang walked past him with out giving him even so much as a glance. "Whatever." She said as she pulled her self into her bed. Jayden headed for the door, no point wasting anymore time. "Well, we need to get going. We should be back late Monday early Tuesday."

"By guys! Good luck with the job!" Ruby said as they left the room.

Ruby woke up the next morning and saw Jayden's empty bed. Her eyes drawn specifically to his pillow. " 'mornin sis!" Yang said as Ruby swung her feet over her bed. " Morning yang. What time is it?" Yang looked at the clock on the wall. "Seven. Looks like we both got up early." She got off her bed and started changing. "Hey, what do ya say we go camping this week end! It'd be fun and good for some training." Ruby thought for a moment, she hadn't gone camping in years. "Sure, where?" Yang pulled on her shirt and reached for her jacket. "Forever falls. It's close so we won't have to travel for a long time and lots of Grimm to hunt." Ruby loved the idea. She loved anything that involved killing monsters actually. "Great! Let's get ready then. To bad Jayden isn't here, I'm sure he'd love to go." Yang let out a humph. "I'm sure he's fine with what ever the hell he's doing." Ruby knew she was still mad at Jayden, but she needed to let it go. "Yang, you said it yourself he had learned something awful." Yang looked up at her. "Yeah, and threw me into a tree and dislocated my shoulder."

"He didn't mean it."

"But he did it." Yang put on Ember Cecilia and hung her aviators glasses on her shirt and proceeded to start packing. Ruby reached over and grabbed Jayden's pillow. She looked at the salty stains that had dripped from his eyes and onto the pillow. She couldn't help but think "do either of them realize just how much pain he's in?"


	13. Chapter 13

Authors noted. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you all have fun. But that's tomorrow, today is the volume two finale of RWBY! So, for that reason I'm uploading a day early! Also, I decided I want a cover for this story. So if anyone wants to draw up what you think would make a good cover and email it to ncady54 . Thank you and as always please enjoy!

Chapter thirteen: The Huntsman

"Mind explaining why you needed to buy potatoes?" Weiss said as they walked down the street. It was close to midnight now, Jayden wanted to waste no time getting this done so he could get a few hours sleep. "And why do I need to wear this stupid disguise?" She said as she waved her hands down the length of her body. She was referring to the brown cloak that hid her face in a slight shadow along with most of her body, though it still allowed her to fight, should it prove necessary. "We don't want it getting around that Weiss Schnee is looking for a major bounty. Blake and I are mostly unknown, if they find out we're looking for Dimund it won't mean as much as if they find out the richest girl on the planet is. As for the potatoes, well, you'll see." They walked further along till they came to an alleyway, Jayden quietly motioned them down until they came to about halfway down. "All right, we're here." Blake looked around, she looked confused at the lack of anything of value. "I don't see anything Jayden, are you sure this is where we're suppose to be?" Jayden moved a trash can to reveal a manhole. He removed the cover and pointed towards it. "Down there. There's a series of old tunnels meant to be used in the event of flooding. The city's homeless began using it for shelter decades ago, I was actually staying here just before I started going to Beacon." Jayden started climbing down first, that way if either of the girls fell he could catch them before the hit the ground after a hundred foot, vertical drop. Several minutes later they where at the bottom of the ladder. "Weiss, can I see your flashlight?" She reached under her cloak and into her bag which was embroidered with her snowflake symbol. She handed him her flashlight and he started shining it around. "Ah, here we are." The light rested on a crudely drawn picture of a Beowolf. "What's it mean?" Weiss asked. Jayden began walking down the tunnel as the other two followed. "These are directions. The system covers most of the city with entrances on nearly every street. Various Grimm mean various things, like this means we take the left tunnel. "

"Why the symbols? Why not just write it down?" Weiss asked. He didn't think she'd understand, but he choose to tell her anyways. "The kingdom declared occupation of the tunnels to be illegal after criminals started using them as hide outs. But for many it's the only option other than sleeping out side in the cold with wild animals." He couldn't see her face, but he could tell the whole concept was foreign to her. The girls followed him as he kept looking for directions down several tunnels as the slowly descended further down.

Blake stepped forward and tapped Jayden on the shoulder. "Hey Jayden, I was wondering, what planet are you from? I mean, if your not from Remnant then..." Jayden stopped. He looked up as he remembered his home world, he was there only once, but to this day it was one of the most glorious, and horrifying, moments of his life. "My home world was a crystalline planet called Crystophis. The surface was covered with beautiful green and blue crystals that where wanted by the whole galaxy, my saber crystals are from there, actually. I was only six months old when I left to go to the temple so I don't remember much about it. I returned for a few months during the war to help fight the Separatist occupation but other then that..." Before he could go on Weiss interrupted him. "Wait, six months? They took you that early? Did you even know your family?"

"No, never met them. I know my dad was a mechanic for one of the mining companies on the planet but that's about it. Jedi weren't supposed to have contact with their family's, strong emotional connections can cloud judgement and lead to the dark side. Kind of the opposite of what the Jedi where going for. Their where exceptions, such as Ki-Adi-Mundi who was ten when he was accepted, and a few others for various legal and cultural reasons. But none of that applied to me." Suddenly Jayden remembered the vision of Anakin after fighting Obi-Wan, he had said "where is my wife?" He had been married? Is that what led him to the dark side? The monster should have listened to the council when they said that relationships where forbidden, then none of this would have happened.

They followed dozens of tunnels until Blake stopped Jayden, he'd missed a symbol while thinking. Jayden looked at it, one of the oldest symbols in history, three human figures holding up a huge Dust crystal. It signified the turning point in the war against the Grimm, when humanity finally had a chance, when humanity finally discovered hope. But in their case it showed them they where at their destination.

When Jayden opened the service door Weiss was completely shocked, she wasn't sure what to expect, but she hadn't even considered an entire city beneath the city. They walked out into a large bazaar. The area they where in stretched for miles, and that was only what they could see. It was lite with a faint orange glow from service lights and hundreds of people bustled about. "Come, this way. And watch out for pick pockets." Jayden said as he put his hands in his own. They walked for miles, people where selling all sorts of things, most of it had either been thrown out or stolen. They left the bazaar and went down a side tunnel with various carts preparing and selling food. Jayden walked up to a cart selling ramen and turned to Blake and Weiss. "You guys hungry?" The cart owner looked up from an open fire and suddenly looked surprised. "Jayden? What are you doin here? Didn't you say you where going to that school just outside the city? Why on Remnant would you come back here?" He was old with white hair. He wore a shirt to match and an old stained black apron, the stand was simple, he cooked on an open fire and kept perishables in a ice cooler. The stand was an old noodle cart he'd fished out of the trash long ago, probably before Jayden had even come to Remnant. "Chasing a bounty Pete. Thought I'd stop by for some food. What's the menu tonight?" The keeper poured three bowls as he read off the ingredients. "Business has been good lately cause of the booming economy. We got chicken with parsley and carrots. Can you believe it? I can actually afford meat!" The keeper looked elated. The economy had been better as of late but most of the people here couldn't feel the effects. Most didn't have the skills necessary, and some had simply been trapped in poverty for too long to function in society. Most managed to scrape enough to eat by selling things in the bazaar. Pete handed them the bowls and he and Jayden started talking. "So, your training to be a huntsman? What brought that on? You never seemed interested in anything but lying low before. And what's with the braid and eye cover?" Jayden ate some of his ramen while Weiss looked at it hesitantly, she'd probably never eaten anything cooked on an open fire before. "Circumstances changed. The bandana is for training and the braid, well, I lost a bet. Speaking of being a huntsman, know where i can find him?" Pete rinsed some utensils off in a bucket of water as Jayden ripped some chopsticks apart. "Where do you think? Same place he's been for the past twenty years." Jayden laughed as he put his chopsticks down. "The old man still doing nothin like always? Well, as long as he has the info I need." Pete laughed as he put on a new batch of noodles. "Yeah, still works as an info broker. Not sure how he does it, if he wanted to he could probably make a decent earning and not live here. But I guess he lost his motivation along with that leg of his. Got a way to pay him? You know he doesn't like cash, that'd require him to move so he could buy stuff." Jayden glanced down to the potatoes between his feet. "Got it covered." Blake scratched her bow and let out a slight yawn. "How do you two know each other?" She asked. Pete laughed as he started cutting chicken up to add to the ramen. Jayden pointed his thumb at Pete. "He's the one who brought me here after my parents died. With out any one to take care of me I was left at the mercy of the street. He found me one day a few months later after I'd just arrived in the city. He taught me to read the markers and how to find my way here. If I hadn't met him I'd've probably died." Blake and Weiss looked confused when Blake suddenly realized what Jayden was getting at. "Oh right! You where orphaned and that's how you became homeless."

"Oh yes. I remember now. Tragic the whole thing. What'd you say happen again?" Jayden wanted to hit Weiss with his sheath for that, making him dig him self deeper and deeper. "Well I lived outside the kingdoms up near Vacuo. It wasn't an easy life, but it was the only one I'd ever known. Then one day it all went bad. A pack of Beowolves attacked, normally this wouldn't be a problem, we where all well trained, men, women, children, all great fighters and warriors. But we where so worried about the Beowolves we didn't see the Goliath till it was too late. I managed to escape and wound up here." Pete shook his head sadly as he stirred the pot. "Yeah we got lots like that. The wilderness is a dangerous place, course lately the White Fang has been making it even more so."

"Hmpf! Awful savages all of them!" Blake clenched her chop sticks together. Jayden would have liked to see this play out, Blake had reserve feelings about her former employers, this was to be expected. But he wanted to see just where they lay. But he couldn't afford the attention, luckily Pete managed to diffuse the situation before the two started fighting. "Now ladies, we can't start a ruckus here, when people start fighting everyone gets involved. Speaking of which, Jayden, it's almost two, wait any longer and he won't be inclined to serve you." Weiss and Blake finished up their ramen and handed the bowls back to Pete. "All right then, that'll be three lien."

"Only three lien? Surely it should be more." Weiss said, her expression hidden by the cloaks hood. Jayden put his hand up to silence her. "Of course, her you go." He reached into his pocket, pulled out three bills, and handed them to Pete he then leaned in and whispered "keep the change." The three got up and walked away.

"So, how much did you give him?" Blake asked. "Just a little extra." He looked around and leaned in so no one could here them. "I snuck in a fifty." Weiss taped Jayden on the shoulder. "So where are we going? You mentioned something about an information broker?"

"Oh yeah, just a little bit down there's an old huntsman, apparently he showed up here bout twenty years ago. As far as anyone knows he hasn't left the spot he's been in since then. But some how he knows everything that goes on, and he'll tell you. If you can pay him, course he doesn't take cash, just stuff." Weiss expressed her confusion, she'd probably never considered paying for stuff in something other than money. "Why? Why not just get money?" Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, I stopped trying to figure the guy out years ago. Oh, and we get the info we'll settle down for the night in my old spot. No one will be there."

"Why not? You haven't been here for nearly a month." Blake asked. Jayden stopped and stared her dead in the eye. He walked up to her and stuck out his index finger. "No one takes my spot. It's my spot. Mine."

They walked for a half hour until they final came to their destination. Weiss looked incredibly uncomfortable walking on the uneven brick floor in heels and a cloak. "I thought you said It was only little bit down?" Jayden turned to her and smiled. "This place covers seventy five percent of the tunnels which run underneath the whole city. This is a little bit. And besides, he's right there." He pointed to an old disheveled man sitting in a corner behind a fire. He had shoulder length white hair and beard. His left eye had an eyepatch over it and he sat with his left leg tucked beneath the stump of his right, which had been severed just above the knee. Laying next to him was a shotaxe, similar to professor ports blunderaxe but an updated model. "Well, looks like you came back after all. What was it you said? Oh that's right, 'I'm leaving this dump old man'." Jayden took a seat in front of the old huntsman along with Blake. Weiss remained standing not wanting to sit on the dirty floor. "Good to see you to. Still a grouchy, lazy, lout I see." He never could stand him, something about him just pissed Jayden off. "Either ways, I need some info, I'm looking for a lead on Hassan Dimund, last any one saw him he was in the south east of the kingdom but that was months ago." The huntsman scratched his stump of a leg. "And you think I know where a notorious drug lord is hiding?" Jayden was getting annoyed, he wanted to get this out of the way soon. "Something you don't know? Well that's a first."

"Oh, I know all right. I also know he is, in fact, smuggling weapons for the White Fang and anyone who's tried for the bounty has never come back. I know your a good fighter, but this may be more then you can handle, even with your little friends." Jayden reached under his blind fold and rubbed his eye, it was two in the morning and he hadn't slept the previous night. Now he was talking to someone he'd more then love to hit with the sack of potatoes. "Since when have you cared about what I or any one has done? Here's ten pounds of potatoes, now tell me what you know so I can get the hell out of here." The huntsman took the sack and looked in to it, he smiled at the thought of all the potatoes, they where a good source of quick energy. "He's using a Schnee dust cargo train to take some drugs and weapons to an airport where they'll be transferred to Vacuo. After that it'll be to late for you to get him. This all goes down on Monday so you have tomorrow to find him." Jayden smiled. "Great, thank you." He got up and motioned the girls to follow.

They where on their way to the spot Jayden mentioned, there where no make shit shops or restaurants, just people sitting on the floor with looks off hopelessness. "He must have an inside man so he can use the train." Weiss said, she didn't like the idea her grand fathers company, her company, where being used to arm the White Fang. "We have to stop them."

"And we will Weiss, but first we have to sleep. We can get a few hours until six, we need to be out off here then. They kept walking for several minutes, slowly they where seeing less and less people. "The tunnels are mostly unpopulated here, I loved it cause few people bothered you." Suddenly Jayden stopped. He looked at a pile of leaves in a corner with a girl about their age sleeping on them. Jayden clenched his teeth. He looked around and ignited his saber. His hands where shaking from anger. "Some ones in my spot."

Ruby stood still, her hood pulled over her face, hiding it from view. There where ten Boarbatusks and and an Ursa, she had to finish clearing the area of any Grimm so she, her sister, and team JNPR could set up camp. She was dangerously outnumbered. She smiled as the Ursa rushed her. "And I was afraid this was gonna be an unfair fight." She thought. The Ursa swung its massive claw at her, only to scatter a shower of Rose petals. The Boarbatusks looked up as Ruby took out Crescent Rose. She pulled the trigger taking out four of them in quick succession, she turned it to scythe mode and landed the blade in the Ursa's skull. She perched on the long pole and pulled the trigger taking out two more Boarbatusk with one bullet. She jumped and pulled the scythe out turning it into battle scythe mode and decapitated another one. She turned around to see another jumping at her. It landed on the spear tip at the end of the scythe. Suddenly she heard three shots in rapid fire. She turned around to see Ren standing there with a dead Boarbatusk. "Yang wanted me to see if you where done, this one was trying to sneak up behind you."

"Thanks!" Ruby said as she put in a new clip. It was about ten in the morning. Ruby and Yang ran into the others just outside their dorms as they where heading for breakfast, naturally they invited them to come along. They where clearing an area about a mile in circumference to give them a decent buffer zone against any Grimm that might wander in, Ruby had just finished her area. The others where probably close to done. "We should head back now." Ren said as the bodies of the now dead Grimm began to dissolve.

The camp was just two tents and a fire pit surrounded by a perimeter and of cans on a string. They stepped over the string and walked to the fire pit where Nora and Pyrrha where working on getting the fire pit ready for later. "Oh! You're back already? Nora and I didn't find many Grimm in our areas so we where back a while ago. The fire pits almost ready for dinner, what will we be having?" Pyrrha asked as she got up from placing the logs and proceeded to double check the tents. Ren put his guns in his sleeves and explained the nights menu. "I've set traps for some rabbits around the forest. I'll go check them later." Nora bounced up and grabbed her hammer. "So what do we do if none of the traps catch anything? It better not be like last week when we missed dinner. Ren." She said as she gave him a judgmental look. "Don't worry guys, I've got that covered." Suddenly Yang came out of the forest and into the clearing with ten fish on hooks. Pyrrha fished with the tent and stood up. "Well looks like dinners taken care of. Is everyone here?" Ruby looked around, every one was there except one. "Hey, where's Jaune?" Pyrrha picked up Milo and turns it to gun mode. She began to check the alignment of the sights on it as though she hadn't heard Ruby. "Oh I'm sure he's alright. I sent him to the area nearest the school, less monsters there." Suddenly Ren dropped the log he was about to place on the fire. He walked slowly over to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, did you say nearest the school?"

"Yes. Why?" Suddenly Ren and Nora picked up their weapons. "They found a large heard of Beowolves there." Suddenly Pyrrha grabbed her shield and ran off In Jaunes direction Ruby cocked crescent rose. "Let's go guys."


	14. Chapter 14

Authors Note: Last month I hit a record of 752 visitors and 2,445 views. Wow. All I can say is thank you to every one who has been reading this. When I started this I'd intended this to be a short little project to improve my writing that would get like ten views max with twenty people telling me it sucks. Heck, I was planning to be in the middle of a finale I completely pulled out of my ass, now I have people messaging me to release more then once a week! Thank you to all my readers, I love reading your comments and seeing where In world people are from (thanks one guy from Singapore that reads every week!) . You've made it an enjoyable, all be it time constricting, experience. To those who started but did not continue, I'm sorry I could not keep your interest. I hope in the future you'll give me a try again and like the story better. I'm not sure why I chose to cross Rooster Teeth's RWBY with George Lucas's Star Wars but I'm glad I did. It's allowed me to come up with so many cool story arcs I'm sure you guys will love. Here's to 4,000 views in the month of November! Thank you!

Chapter fourteen: Complications

Jayden walked a few steps closer to the leaf pile, his saber casting a blue shadow on the walls of the dim tunnel. Everyone knew not to take that spot. It was his spot. It was the one place in all the world where Jayden could find some peace and quiet and not have to worry about others trying to kill him. No one, or at least not many, came to this part of the system since it was on the outskirts of the homeless community and it was blocked off past this point. Suddenly Jayden paused, something seemed familiar to him. "Wait a second, is that who I think it is?" He whispered to Blake and Weiss. He couldn't see her because of the blind fold, but he could sense her aura, it was definitely who he thought she was. "Weiss, you stay here and guard the rear in case she try's to escape. Blake, you're with me."

"Jayden do you know her?" Jayden clenched his saber handle and rubbed the left side of his chest. "Yeah, I do." They proceeded to approach her slowly, so as not to alert her. "How do you intend to get her to move?" Blake whispered as she slowly pulled out Gambol Shroud. "I'll cut her god damn head off, see if that works." Blake was shocked at Jayden's sudden violence but was unable to do anything as two shots rang out in the empty tunnel. Jayden and Blake jumped to opposite sides of the tunnel while Weiss drew her sword. "Oh Jayden, you of all people should know a fox has excellent hearing." She said as she sat up on the pile, a Gurkha gun in hand. Jayden threw his saber at her but she managed to jump over him and Blake. She fired a shot at Weiss's feet to distract her, and before any of them knew it, she was gone.

"where'd she go! Did she get away?" Blake said as she got up. Jayden pushed his hand out and suddenly the girl reappeared, right in plain view of all of them, and was being held against a wall by the Force. His saber flew back into his free hand and he got up. "Well well well. See you never tire of your old tricks Jayden. But honestly, is this any way to treat a lady?" She wore a brown aviators jacket, blue jeans and old red gym shoes. Her hair was a dark orange, almost red, which matched the fox ears that adorned her head and the tail that protruded from the base of her spine. "Last I checked a lady doesn't invite someone on a heist then stab them in the chest so she doesn't have to share the pay day."

Jayden let her go from the wall, the three of them had her surrounded so she couldn't escape. "Weiss, go guard the entrance, if she try's to escape, kill her." Weiss didn't like Faunus, but the thought of killing one still made her nervous. Despite her hesitation she went to the entrance and sealed it shut with ice. "Ok Autumn, you have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't kill you, and remember, I'm bad at math. One."

"Because I can help you." Jayden raised his saber to autumns throat, but she remained calm. "Eight,"

"So you know he's using a Schnee cargo train? Which one? You'll need me to find it. I can smell the drugs faster then you or the cat girl can find them." Blake tensed up. She jerked her head over to Weiss. If she had heard that it would blow her whole cover. But Weiss was checking the wall she had made and had heard nothing. "My my my. Is that the Weiss Schnee? Tell me, how does she feel about teaming up with a Faunus?" Autumn gained an innocent smile, betraying her inner deceit. "I swear to god if you tell her!" Blake hissed. In one swift motion Autumn kicked Jayden in the stomach, he lurched over as she moved Blake's gun upwards and smashed her into the wall. She put several feet between them, out of either Jayden's or Blake's reach. "You'll do what? I can tell her before you or Jayden do anything to me. So here's the deal, take me with you, split the bounty with me, and she doesn't learn about your little kitty ears. K?"

"How'd you know?" Blake said. "A foxes nose never lies." Autumn said as she tapped her own. How'd she find out about their job? But that didn't matter, Jayden may have wanted to strike her dead, right then and there, but she was right, she could tell Weiss before then and blow Blake's cover. That wouldn't be fair to her to blow it for his silly revenge. "Fine, whatever, you can come. Now, can I get some fucking sleep already? I've been up for damn near two days and I'm ready to bite a certain foxes head off." He walked over to the leaf pile when Autumn walked over next to him. "You always where pissy with out your sleep." Autumn took her hand out of her pocket and slapped Jayden in the but. Suddenly, with out warning, Jayden's hand shot up and hit Autumn in the eye with the back of his fist. "Damn straight." He said as he fell on to the pile of leaves. Blake sat down next to him. "How'd you learn about the bounty?" Autumn got up and rubbed her eye. She picked the Gurkha gun up and put her weapon in the sheathe behind her back. "I over heard your conversation with the huntsman. Thought I could make some nice money."

When Jaune woke up that morning he hadn't imagined it'd be his last. What had made him think sneaking into the academy with fake transcripts would be a good idea? His whole life all he'd wanted was to become a huntsman, to carry on his fathers and his grandfathers legacy. But now, here he was on a ledge on the side of a cliff surrounded by dozens of Beowolves. There was only one path they could climb to get up the cliff and only one could make it up at a time so even he could kill them. But it seemed like every time he killed one ten more took its place. He could kill them yes, but how long could he last up there? He had no food or water, so that meant unless some one came to his rescue soon he had three days max. But he'd probably pass out from exhaustion before then. And after what he'd done to Pyrrha that night he couldn't expect her to come save him like she always did. Another one was almost up. It swiped Jaunes leg with its claw causing a deep gash. He cut its head off as he screamed in pain, attracting more Beowolves. He reached into his bag and took out some gauze to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry Pyrrha." He said, lamenting the fact he'd never be able to actually tell her. "If I could do it over again..."

Weiss sat on the leaf pile next to Jayden and Blake. Autumn had agreed to sleep farther away from them and Weiss volunteered to take first guard, she was too disturbed by what she had seen earlier to sleep anyways. As a child she'd heard that they're where people who had nothing in this world, but she'd never taken it to be literal before, that there where people who didn't even so much as have clothes. She'd seen several people covering themselves with tarps for lack of proper clothing. They looked absolutely destitute, all traces of hope erased from their existence, leaving only pain and sorrow. "So, you taking guard duty?" She looked up to see the man from the noodle cart earlier walking towards them. "Figured Jayden would crash here. Always did. Likes his privacy that one, and no one ever comes this way cause it's a dead end. I just wanted to stop by to make sure y'all where ok." Weiss stood up and brushed her cloak off. "Yeah, some one has to. How was business today?" Pete took out a cigarette and lit it with an old match. "Good 'nuff that I can afford to smoke again. Though I doubt it was as good as your business was today, Ms. Schnee." Weiss took her hood off and adjusted her tiara. "How did you know?" He sat down against the wall and let out a puff of smoke. "I was old before you where born. You learn a thing or two in that time, though not as much as you think you do. So, you're working with Autumn over there now? God that always works well." Pete said as he rolled his eyes. Weiss sat next to Pete and leaned her saber against the wall. "I'd rather we weren't, but Blake and Jayden insisted she come. And what do you mean?"

Pete dropped some of the ash from his cigarette and took another smoke. "They never did get along those two. People get to know everyone here but Jayden was always a loner. She seemed to take some sort of delight in annoying him. Then there was that time she convinced him to go on a job with her, I don't know the details but it was up in Mistral apparently, something happened and she ended stabbing Jayden in the chest puncturing his lung, managed to survive, obviously."

Weiss looked at Autumn and gripped her sword, she couldn't stand her at all, she couldn't stand any of them. "Is there some sort of gene that naturally makes Faunus degenerate thieves and murderers?" Pete smothered the end of his cigarette on the floor and stood up. He stretched his arms and turned towards Weiss. "Well, that's an interesting theory there but, the way I see it, there no different then people in that regard." Weiss's jaw went slack and she lost her grip on her saber. The Faunus? No different from humans? The idea was both foreign and absurd to her. "Wh- how could you say that! Of course there different! They're thieves and liars! You said it your self! Autumn betrayed Jayden and nearly killed him!"

Pete took out another smoke and lit it. "Forty years ago, back when I was twenty, I wasn't homeless. I had a nice little house out in the country, I had a nice job, and I was married. My wife was a dog Faunus, and everyone who chose to get to know her said she was the kindest, most compassionate person ever. Being a Faunus, however, there where lots of people who hated her simply for that. I guess that's why I fell for her, cause even though they hated her, she loved them all. Shortly after we met, I asked her why, why love the people who hate her?" Weiss wanted to say something, anything. But she couldn't find any words. In the end, all she managed to say was "What did she say?" He took a puff of smoke, his eyes getting a distant, cloudy look like Jayden's when he talked about his life before Remnant. "Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it, irreplaceable."

Weiss moved her lips, she wanted to say something, some retort or rebuttal, but she found nothing, she found her self chipping away inside, little by little the dam inside of her was eroding, and soon it would burst. "Despite that, the people she helped rarely trusted her. They always assumed that their was some secret agenda or something behind what she was doing, and one day, a few months after we married, they attacked her. They decided if she wanted to marry a human, then she should be a human. They beat her, ripped her ears off her head, and left her in an alley way. When I finally found her she had died of blood loss. She was three months pregnant when this happened." Weiss had all ready been speechless, but now she was absolutely dumbfounded. She couldn't find a modicum sense in this story, they attacked and killed her for no reason? And what's worse, they prevented a life from occurring, stealing away any chance of love or happiness from the soon to be child, taking away any of its contributions to the world. It was... Horrifying. "After that I went nuts and wound up down here. Well, better go hit the hay, need to get my sleep if I'm gonna work my stall tomorrow night. Take care, and keep Jayden out of trouble now." After he left the section of tunnel, Weiss finally collapsed to her knees.

Jayden looked around, he wasn't in the tunnel any more. He looked at the walls then up to the ceiling, it looked like he was in a star destroyer again. He was the only one in the corridor as far as he could see so he reached out with the force, he felt hundreds of people, but one in particular stood out. He sensed it as being near, only a few corridors away, so he went to check it out. He walked past several people in dark gray naval officer uniforms, people in white armor reminiscent of clone troopers, but none of them could see him. Finally he came to a door. The person was behind it, and suddenly so was he. It looked like a supply room, armor and weapons hung on racks lining the walls and creating halls. Behind one of these halls a man in armor, but with out a helmet, kneeled over a small device. "Come on, work damn it! I must alert general Kohta! He must know of the Empires plan!" Suddenly the device lit up and the man sighed in relief, only to be interrupted by the whoosh of a door opening followed by a dozen or so other men, all with their blaster riffles trained on him and his device. Suddenly the ones in the middle parted and stood at attention, making way for Darth Vader. "So, a spy has been in our midst? This is most troubling. Tell me where the plans are and I may let you live, long enough to see the rebellion destroyed at least."

"You'll never get them! I've already transmitted your invasion plans to our secret base, you failed Vader!"

"No. You've only postponed the inevitable." Vader raised his hand as if he was holding a glass. The man rose off the ground and reached for his neck, desperately trying to remove some sort of invisible hand from his neck. He flailed his legs and gasped for air, his eyes widening in fear. Suddenly there was a crack, and the mans body went limp. Vader threw him against the wall like a doll as two storm troopers carried his body off. "I want those plans located!"

"Jayden wake up damn it!" Weiss was leaning over Jayden when he opened his eyes. Her arms crossed her chest and she looked extremely annoyed. "Damn visions." He thought as he slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. It'd been more then a month since he last slept in trash, it sucked about as much as he remembered. "What time is it Weiss?"

"Five forty. I've been trying to get you up for five minutes. Time to get going." Jayden reached next to him and shook Blake awake. She woke up easier then him, yawned, and stretched her arms. "Time to go?" She said. "Yeah, we need to figure out how we're going to get to the train yard on the other side of the kingdom by eight or we miss our only chance to find the right train." He looked over at Autumn who was fast asleep. He got up and picked up a small rock about the size his thumb. He threw it at her hitting her in the fore head. "Hey Autumn! Get up! We're moving." She rubbed her head. Her ears where twitching violently as she wagged her tail. "Jeez, couldn't you bring an alarm clock or something?"

"Then I wouldn't have a chance to throw shit at you." He said as he picked up his sword. He unsheathed it to make sure there where no chips before they went on. Autumn looked at the short blade, only about three hand a half feet long. It was completely straight until the tip, which converged with the swords spine at a sharp angle. It's handle wrapped in black leather with a wooden guard separating his hand from the blade. "Your sword is beautiful as always, keep an eye on it. Wouldn't want someone to steal it."

"Try it and I ram it up your you-know-what so far you taste leather." He said as he sheathed it, avoiding eye contact with her. She smiled coyly as if she had no idea what he was talking about. Jayden headed down the tunnel. "Come on guys, we need to be out of here ten minutes ago."

Jaune waited on the mountain side. His leg wouldn't stop bleeding and the bandage was almost completely saturated. His vision was getting hazy and he was seeing spots. The Beowolves had stopped, they sensed their prey would soon be unable to fight back so they merely needed to wait. Suddenly several of the Beowolves blew up as streams of pink smoke flew out of the forest. Jaune looked over the cliff and saw the rest of his team, Ruby, and Yang come out and begin an assault on the Grimm. "So they did come for me." He smiled, ashamed of everything. His weakness, his lies, how he betrayed his friends. Still, he couldn't help but notice a particular red head hack, slash, and blast her way through the horde.

Pyrrha wouldn't let anything stop her from getting to Jaune. A Beowolf tried to get her right flank, only to have its face met with the barrel of her gun. She blew it's head off and turned, blocking some claws going for her back with her shield. Ruby cut it in half followed closely by Yang, Ren mowed his way through the horde followed by Nora taking up his rear. "We need to get through these Grimm and get away before more come." Ruby said as she reloaded, they where hacking and blasting their way through the horde but it wasn't enough, they needed to evacuate soon. The Grimm weren't supposed to be this numerous, something was off. Pyrrha turned her gun into its spear form, she'd need the reach soon. "I have a plan! Nora and Yang, blast an opening through the center! Ruby and Ren, hold the rear!"

Yang put new ammo belts in while Nora turned her hammer back into gun form. They took position while Pyrrha waited to give the signal. She saw Jaune up on the cliff, he looked injured. They're where several Grimm at the base trying to get up. One began to climb it's way up, Pyrrha fired her spear using the recoil to penetrate it's head. The spear stuck in the side of the cliff as the Grimm disappeared "Now!" Yang and Nora launched a barrage of red flare and pink smoke streams as Beowolf after Beowolf blew up. Pyrrha ran as fast as she could, she reached the base and was confronted by three Grimm. She took off her shield and threw it, her body glowing red as the shield picked up speed and cut the Grimm in half. She caught it and jumped up on her spear, using it as a base to spring herself up on to the ledge.

"Jaune! Are you injured?" She realized what a stupid question it was as soon as she said it He was exhausted from blood loss, his leg wrapped in a crimson bandage that had once been white. She knelt down and grabbed his head, bringing it close to her chest. She'd failed to realize the danger she'd put him in, she hadn't even heard of the Beowulf pack before Ren told her, something she should have known about. "I'm so sorry Jaune. I'm so so sorry." As she said this Jaune couldn't help but think "no, don't. I should apologize."


	15. Chapter 15

Authors Note: sorry for such a late update, I had a really nasty cold so I spent most of Friday and Saturday sleeping. Here's the new chapter now. Also if any of you are artistically inclined I'd love it if you guys made some fan art I could possibly use as a cover for the story. Thank you and please enjoy.

Chapter 15: The First Bounty

Cassus Zule is the best bounty hunter in the four kingdoms. Over five hundred successful bounties have been claimed by him. When criminals heard he was after them they didn't bother fighting, they just ran. So why was this one acting differently? He was tall with short brown hair, he put a blue bandana over his mouth as he walked up to the chain link fence. "Something ain't right." Cassus said as he entered the compound. It was an old abandoned warehouse, not much if you saw it on the out side, but on the inside there where enough ingredients to fuel the drug trade for the whole kingdom. He entered the building and looked around.

There where steel drums full of chemicals and wooden boxes of various materials lining the walls, other then that the place looked empty. "Looks like someone's waiting for the moving company to show up." He looked to the far east corner of the building, there was a set of stairs that led to a second floor with offices. He reached to his back and drew his claymore, the bounty said dead or alive. Cassus smiled as he thought of that. "So in other words dead." He walked up the stairs and rounded a corner. There was a light on in one of the rooms, looked like a good place to start. He walked into the room, and there sitting at a desk filling out paper work, was Hassan Dimund.

"Mr. Zule, while I do not mind visitors I ask you call ahead as a simple courtesy, though I doubt that will be a problem in the future." He didn't look up from his paper work as he spoke. Cassus walked closer, sword in hand, until he was in the center of the room. "Well sorry about that, most people aren't this nice about letting me kill them." At this Hassan stopped writing. He looked up from his desk, smiled, and stared at Cassus with his dark brown eyes. "Why Mr. Zule, I'm afraid there's been a mistake. See, you where dead the moment you walked in." Cassus rushed at him only to stop dead in his tracks. He looked down to see four bronze colored daggers sticking out of his chest. "Wha-at? He wasn't there..."

"A second ago? I'm afraid he was, you simply didn't hear him." Cassus fell to his knees, the man behind him was as tall as as he was with dark black skin. His head was bald, adorned with a mask made of skull that covered all but his lower jaw. His torso and shoulders where bare but from the waist down he was covered with a black robe that was tattered at the hems.

He ripped the daggers out of Cassus's back and he fell flat on the floor. "Thank you Skadu. Now, we have some company that will be arriving later. Please find and meet them in advance."

"Yes, master." Skadu said. He bowed and exited the room. Dimund reached the right side of his desk, pushed a button, and spoke into the intercom. "Ebony, Rooi, it's time to leave. Don't worry about the materials, the White Fang will send people over." He got up and grabbed several pieces of paper and placed them in a suit case. "So, Weiss Schnee is after my bounty? And she thought I didn't have people in the registry office. Very well, I'm sure Skadu is more then capable of handling her and any of her little friends."

"So Jayden, how do you intend to get us half way across the kingdom in less then a day?" Autumn said as they looked down at a train yard full of freight trains. They needed to cover lots of ground quickly, if they missed the train Hassan was on they missed their only real chance of getting him and Jayden didn't get his crystal. "First, shut up Autumn. Second, Blake, did you get the train schedule." Blake reached into her bag and pulled out a sticky note. "I snuck in and checked a computer. Train eighty four leaves in twenty minutes and heads to the right train yard. Non stop."

"Perfect." Weiss locked worried. "Jayden, I know those are all Schnee train cars so technically I own them, but I don't think I can just tell them to let us on."

"Don't worry, I'll take car of that."

They walked up to the gate, which was unlocked, opened it and walked in. There was relatively low security, these trains where being sent to the other end of the line to pick up shipments so they where empty. They walked up and down until they came to train eighty four, where a guard spotted them. "Excuse me, but what are you kids doing here?" Weiss was about to speak up when Jayden interrupted her. He waved his hand at the guard who subsequently got a glazed look on his face. "You're going to get us on the train." Jayden said as he waved his hand. "I'm... Im going to let you on the train. I'll need to see some identification first, of course." The guard said. Jayden waved his hand again. "You don't need to see our identification. You want to let us on the train."

"I don't need to see your identification. I want to let you on the train." The guard opened the door on one of the freights and helped Weiss in while the rest climbed in themselves. He closed the door behind them leaving only a few small cracks of light coming from the space between the door.

"Jayden. How'd you do that?" Blake whispered. Jayden looked at Autumn to make sure she wasn't listening, her head was turned away from them so she obviously wasn't. "The force gives me a higher degree of influence over the weak minded then most. Took me years to figure out how to do that with out a master, only figured it out a few months ago actually." Blake looked surprised. It wasn't an unexpected reaction. Harthow had always told Jayden few ever truly understood the full extent of the force. Qui- Gon was probably one of those few, Jayden suspected given the whole becoming a ghost thing. "I'm gonna go sleep in that corner over there. Get me if you need anything." Autumn said as she walked over to the far left corner. The other three walked to the far right corner as they felt the train lurch forward and heard the train whistle hoot. They sat down and Weiss asked the question that had been on both her and Blake's head. "Hey Jayden, what was it like back in your old Galaxy?" Jayden leaned his sword against the wall as he scratched his head. "My old Galaxy huh? I thought you didn't believe me Weiss?" Weiss rolled her eyes. She was easily annoyed by just about everything. "Well, I don't have much osice but to believe you for now do I?"

"Well, this whole thing has me thinking of a time when I was kid. See, it was a year in a half into the war, my master and his company where stationed on Courasant for temporary guard duty." And with that Jayden delved into the days of his youth.

"Master Daya. Have more to report you do?" Harthow looked up from the floor. He'd been drifting into a deep thought while the council discussed his report on the Felucia campaign. "Nothing I doubt you don't already know. The bounty placed on Jedi by the C.I.S has been increased a thousand credits, so to has the attempts by bounty hunters naturally along with a relatively high success rate. And while the campaign was successful I ordered a full terrestrial draw back leaving only orbital defense. If we want to leave ground forces we must find a way to counter the numerous beasts that are prevalent on the planet, our bases and armored vehicles are no match, much less our troops." His empty eye were sockets fixed not so much on Grand Master Yoda but the window just behind. Mace Windu leaned forward in his seat and rested his chin on his interlocked hands. "Master Daya, it is obvious you have something you wish to discuss with the council." Harthow looked around the room, the greatest Jedi in the order would gather here to discuss the will of the force and what course of action to take. Now there was only four physically present, the rest where only blue holograms transmitted from the various fronts of the war. He shouldn't have to say anything, it was obvious to anyone with an ounce of strategic knowledge. "Surely the council recognizes the obvious danger here. The cloud of the dark side increases every day this war drags on, our masters are scattered across the Galaxy and our younglings have stopped training as peace keepers and as soldiers! Why, only a few years ago I could see better than any two eyed sentient. Now I can only see the Galaxy through murky shadows. We know the sith are at work here, why do you do nothing while we are spread to the breaking point?" Yoda and Mace looked at each other while master Kenobi began to stroke his beard. "Master Harthow, this council shares your concerns, rest assured we are doing everything we can to learn the identity of the Sith Lord. And when we do we will act accordingly." Master Harthow sighed in resignation. "Yes, master Windu. I shall trust the councils judgement." He turned around and left the council chambers. "I only hope I can trust my own."

The temple library was one of the most extensive collections of knowledge in the Galaxy. Tens of thousands of years of knowledge collected by millions of Jedi where gathered here, all in one spot. Which spelled hours of boredom for a certain young padawan. "Hello Jayden, how goes your studies?" Jayden closed the holo pad and looked up at his master. The old Miraluka Jedi had just recently cut his shoulder length white hair, and the sky blue bandana was in desperate need of being washed after months of fighting droids and monsters on the fungal planet of Felucia. He moved his brown robes out of the way as he sat down across the table from his student. "Pretty much the only thing I don't miss about Felucia. Master, I mean no disrespect, but why should I care about the history of the Wookiee slave trade? This stuff happened during the Jedi Civil war, that was nearly four thousand years ago. How is this relevant to today?" Harthow laughed at his padawan. "How is it relevant? How isn't it relevant? Why, just a little over three years ago Jax, my apprentice before you, had to settle a dispute with the Trade Federation when it wanted to get involved with the slave trade." Jayden looked confused. "Wait, didn't the Republic out law slavery a long time ago?"

"Yes, but Kashyyyk is an independent planet. While it is illegal within Republic space Kashyyyk is not protected under Republic law. Know the past and you know the future Jayden." Jayden began to grumble. "Bet Jax didn't have to spend three hours a day in the library studying." Harthow smiled at the suggestion that Jax got preferential treatment. "Your right. He spent five hours a day studying because, unlike you, he didn't have a photographic memory. Speaking of which, it's been two hours. It's your first day back so I'll let you go early. I heard Sarah is near the PR offices."

Jayden turned off the holo pads and began to put them in his bag. "Thanks! Can't wait to see her and Zalabar. It's been what? Eight months since we where last here?" Harthow sighed. "Yes Jayden." He looked at his apprentice. He was so young, there was a life time of opportunity ahead of him. A life time of learning, a life time of choices and infinite possibilities. But now all of that was threatened by the cloud of war. "I'm sorry you have to put up with this war, though you may be a Jedi you shouldn't have to put up with being shipped around the whole outer rim just to fight some bureaucrats war. I swear by the Force Jayden, the Jedi where never meant to be soldiers." Jayden smiled at his master, smiled with an innocents only a child could have. "I don't mind too much. The Separatists are evil right? It's our job to fight evil." Harthow smiled, betraying how worried that statement made him. "Jayden, it isn't that simple. The Separatists are sentient just as you and I are. Thus they are just as capable of committing acts of good and evil as we are. They saw the corruption eating away at the Republic and saw fit to leave. But, to say they're pure evil is putting the whole situation in black and white, which is rarely the case." He didn't expect his apprentice to understand the complicated matters of war, it was something few had the capacity to, but that didn't decrease its importance. "But, if they're not bad them why are we fighting them? Why not try and work out our differences so people don't have to die?" Harthow picked up his own data pad and began putting in an entry log. "Unfortunately Jayden, the Galaxy doesn't always work that way. People have stakes in war, a way to make profit, and sometimes the differences are simply to vast to overcome by simple talking. Either ways we can discuss this later, go on, have fun. You've earned it after nearly being mowed down by droids and gored by acklays."

Jayden walked through the temple courtyard. He saw dozens of Jedi about, some meditating, some heading to different places, and many on various missions for the Jedi and the Republic. He was heading towards the public entrance of the temple near the public relations office. He had a friend who's father worked in the office, that's how he met her, and as Jayden turned a corner he saw her. He ran up to her weaving past various public and Jedi officials and grabbed her shoulder. "Hey Sarah!" She turned around quickly and pushed her hand out as she shrieked. "Ahhhh!" Suddenly Jayden was thrown into the wall on the other side of the hall. Jayden fell on his but as several people dodged out of the way. "Ouch. I see your not any better at controlling the force then you where eight months ago." Sarah stood there in a knee length purple dress that matched the purple cloth covering her eyes. She was a Miraluka like Jayden's master, but unlike him she had eyes, though they didn't work. She blushed as her knees and voice started trembling. "Ja-Jayden! Im so sorry! I-I didn't realize you where back and then you came up behind me and and and..."

"Whoa, slow down there or you'll have another panic attack! Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Yeah, got back late last night. You free now?" Sarah's breathing was slowing down now and she brushed her long black hair behind her ears. She was prone to panic attacks, combined with the fact her abilities had been discovered to late for her to receive training, she was always a step away from a mental break down. "Yeah, we can head to Zalabars. He should be home." Jayden brushed his robe off and rubbed his back. "I still don't get why they wont accept you for training. You're definitely strong enough in the force."

" I was five when they discovered me. That's too old and you know it." Jayden bent over and picked up his light saber, which had fallen off his belt when Sarah threw him across the hall. "So? Master Mundi was ten when he was accepted."

"He's also like a billion times more powerful then me."

"And what about General Kota? He was eighteen." Sarah crossed her arms across her chest like she always did when she was annoyed. "And he's became one of the most reckless generals in the war. Listen Jayden I'm too old. It'd be dangerous for me to be trained." Jayden put his hands up in resignation. "All I'm saying is your really strong. My master thinks it's even more dangerous for people like you to be denied training."

"Wasn't your master court marshaled for attacking a Separatist planet despite the council telling him not to?" Jayden moved out of some ones way. "Hey, his intel on that genetically modified rancor was right. Captain Apache has never let master Harthow down. Besides, the casualties where lower then estimates said there would be if the rancors made it to the front lines." Sarah shrugged her shoulders and walked off as Jayden followed. "So what have you been up to since I left?" Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out some credits, which she began to count. "Mostly school. Zalabar and I made some money by collecting some scrap metal, want to get something to eat at Dex's?" Jayden thought for a minute. "Maybe later. I want to go see Zalabar before it gets dark."

They left the temple through the entrance and hopped on to a speeder bus that took them five levels below the planets uppermost level. Jayden stuffed his light saber under his now loose clothing. It was dimly lit with artificial lights on the levels ceiling as sentients of all races bustled about doing everything from going to work to stealing. The lower you went in Courascants levels the more dangerous it got. They reached one of the many apartment complexes and walked up several flights of stairs. Sarah knocked on the door and soon the sound of booming footsteps approached the door. The door opened to reveal a wookiee about a foot taller then Jayden or Sarah, though not even a year older. "Jayden! You've returned! How was your time in the war?" The Wookiee grabbed Jayden in a huge embrace as Sarah took a step back. "Still not as dangerous as your hugs Zalabar. Mind putting me down so I don't die?"

Zalabar let go of Jayden and the three entered his apartment. "I apologize but my parents are still at work so I'm not aloud to leave the apartment. Its great that you've returned Jayden, you must have amazing stories from your time on the front." Jayden rubbed just below his ribs, not wanting to remember the MagnaGuard incident. "No, nothing that you'd find interesting." They turned on the HoloNet to watch T.V.; it was turned to the news where a report was being broadcast. "A Separatist spy has been confirmed to be in the fifth level of Courascants factory district. Residents are warned he is armed and dangerous and are advised to remain vigilant for an Ithorian male matching this description. A quarantine has been declared to prevent his escape." An image appeared on the screen showing a brown Ithorian with a long scar going down the back of its long curved neck along with an award of ten thousand credits. His eyestalks protruded out of the side of its head taking up the length of the screen. "Well, looks like where gonna have a hard time getting back home Sarah."

"You are welcome to stay here until the quarantine ends. We should remain inside and let the clones do their work." Jayden shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew technically he was supposed to go and see if the clones needed help, but he couldn't leave his friends, who he was seeing for the first time in a long while, if a dangerous criminal was on the loose. "Not sure how long this will take, I may need to call master Harthow later to let him know."

Zalabar got up and motioned Jayden to follow. They walked down a hall to a closet on the other end of the apartment. "I don't need to call him now, the quarantine might not last too long."

"I know, how ever it might get dangerous, with the quarantine criminals may get more active." He reached to the back of the closet and pulled out a long black sheathe, he grabbed the yellow handle and removed a blade from it. It was long and straight, there was only a blade on one side which curved heavily at the tip to meet the spine. Jayden heard a hum from the blade similar to his light saber. "A vibro-blade?" Zalabar looked at it, checking It for any defects before re sheathing it. "Yes. One of the few things my parents brought with them when they immigrated from Kashyyyk many years ago. My father said it saved him many times in the shadow lands as a youth." He strapped it to his side when suddenly they heard a knocking coming from the front room. Zalabars eyes grew wide and his arms slumped slightly. "My parents shouldn't be back for another two hours." He howled.

The two ran to the front room only to see a brown Ithorian male holding Sarah with a blaster pistol held to her head. "Do anything funny and the girl dies." She was crying, to afraid to move or do anything. Her breathing becoming erratic and stressed. "I-I- I'm s-sorry zal-Zalabar. I thought it wa-as your parents." She was shaking violently and the Ithorian was looking angry. "Stop it you stupid girl or you'll attract attention! Now, I'm going to stay here until the quarantine ends, in the meantime you three will sit down, shut up, and do nothing unless I say so. Got it? And you, Wookiee, give me the sword. Don't want you thinking about doing anything dangerous." Zalabar clutched the handle, he couldn't do it. His honor wouldn't let him, it'd be surrendering and betraying his friends at the same time. But with that blaster at Sarah's head he knew there was nothing he could do. He took the vibro-blade off his waist and handed it to him. "Good. Now go sit on the couch and watch the Holo Net."

Jayden turned it on, the news showed clones sweeping the streets searching for the spy. One clone stood out in particular, his white armor painted with a thick black stripe up the out side of each of his legs and two on the outside of his arms. His helmet was modified with a short range transmitter that could pick up transmissions from farther away then a standard head set and the T shaped visor was out lined wit black making it appear to be larger then it was. On his hips where two tomahawk's that had destroyed about as many droids as the blaster riffle on his back. His serial number S.U.1865000, known to Jayden and the men of Whiskey company as Captain Apache. After the Felucia campaign Whiskey company switched out with Easy company on the Corascant security force, now he may be there only hope. He needed to find away to contact him. The Ithorian hadn't realized jayden was a Jedi yet, he could use this to his advantage. "Hey. I need to use the bathroom."

"Hold it."

"But I really really need to go." The Ithorian looked annoyed but it was hard to tell. He squeezed his hand on the blaster. "All right, you have two minutes." Jayden ran to the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the vent. He had two minutes to do what he needed to do. He reached under his robe and grabbed a small cylindrical transmitter Master Harthow always had him carry in case the two got separated during a battle. He sat on the toilet beneath a window leading to the out side. He sent out a serious of electronics pings on captain Apaches frequency, an incredibly old form of communication, one Apache was bound to recognize. He then took the transmitter and put it in the sink drain so it wouldn't be found. He heard it slide into the trap and was satisfied with the plan. Jayden flushed the toilet so the Ithorian didn't get suspicious and left the room.

"Good, two minutes exactly." Jayden wanted to sigh in relief, so he hadn't been figured out, but that might tip the Ithorian off so instead he simply sat back down. Now he needed wait.

An hour later the three of them where still in the living room with the news on, Sarah had passed out from hyperventilating, though that didn't stop the Ithorian from pointing his blaster at her head. No news on the Ithorian's whereabouts came up, for all jayden knew Apache didn't hadn't gotten his message. "Come on Apache, we need you." Jayden thought. If he didn't show up soon they where screwed, how long would this quarantine go on for before they decided to give up thinking he'd already left. Jayden began to consider offensive options, he could try and force push him away then use his saber to cut him down, but a stray blaster bolt might get Sarah or Zalabar, and Jayden couldn't guarantee the push would be strong enough. They where running out of time and options. Suddenly Jayden felt someone's presence. He'd found them, now how was he going to get in? Apache specialized in stealth tactics and guerrilla war, so it probably wouldn't be the front door. Then there was only one other option. "Hey, I need to use the bathroom again."

You went an hour ago."

"Yeah, but no I have to do something else." The Ithorian rubbed the middle of his forehead and let out what sounded like a sigh. "All right boy. But you are trying my patience. Hurry up." Jayden ran to the bathroom. When he got in he saw captain Apache standing on the ledge of the window. Jayden used the force to quietly opens the window. Apache slipped in and landed on the floor with a thud. The two stood completely still hoping the Ithorian hadn't heard him. Nothing happened so Jayden turned on the fan and the two began to talk very quietly. "He's here?" Apache said as he took the blaster rifle off his back. "Yes. He has my friend at gun point and my Wookiee friend is also there. We have to be careful cause they will be in the cross fire." Apache put a power cell in his blaster. "All right Jayden, you'll make a distraction while I sneak in and stun him."

"Got it."

"What took you so long?" Jayden sat back down on the couch, Apache was waiting behind in the kitchen just out of the Ithorian's view. "I need more fiber in my diet." The Ithorian pointed his blaster at Jayden. "Watch your tongue boy or your body gets stuffed in a closet!" He was nervous and on edge. Jayden could see his judgement was clouded by fear and nervousness, exactly what Jayden needed. Jayden moved his arms like he was stretching and several rocks started moving out side. "What was that?" The Ithorian said as he jerked his head over."

"Sounded like foot steps." The Ithorian got up and walked over to the door. Apache came into the room and held Apache at gun point. "Don't move or I shoot you." The Ithorian froze and turned around slowly. Jayden got up and ignited his light saber. "Zalabar you take Sarah in back, let captain Apache and I take care of him."

"Yes Jayden." Zalabar picked her up and ran past Apache. "Why you... You're a Jedi! You where planning this!" Jayden made no movement when he said "Drop your weapon. In the name of the senate and galactic republic you are under arrest." The Ithorian dropped his blaster, but instead of remaining silent, started to laugh. "Oh, if only you knew what was coming young Jedi, with what I found you'll be very sorry you caught me." He suddenly opened his other hand to reveal two white pills that he popped into his mouth. He swallowed and fell to his knees as white foam starred coming from his mouth. Soon he was dead.

"So that was the first bounty you technically caught?" Weiss said after Jayden finished the story. "Yeah, but since I was a member of the GAR I was ineligible for the reward. That sucked. Shame he died, would have liked to know what exactly he discovered." Suddenly Autumn sat bolt upright and drew her weapon. "We've got company."


	16. Chapter 16

BREAKING NEWS PLEASE READ: Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't release last week, I was having a rough week and just wasn't up to writing, but I'm back and ready to continue writing! Unfortunately, there won't be a chapter next week either. I got to thinking last week, "you know, writing the same thing every week is getting boring." Now, I have NO INTENTIONS TO STOP WRITING IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. I will, however, go on a bi-weekly release schedule to prevent myself from getting bored, and subsequently begin to lose quality of the story and writing. But fear not, on the off weeks I will release A NEW FAN FICTION! I recently read the final book of Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus series, and that inspired me to write a Percy Jackson fan fic, I'm calling it The Mortal of Camp Half-Blood. The synopsis is as follows:

"It's been nearly year since Percy Jackson led camp half blood against Kronos, six months since Gaia was defeated by Jason Grace and Leo Valdez. The Greek and Roman demigods are finally united for the fist time in a century. But Aiden O'Brien knows none of this. Born of mortal parents, the ancient myths have always been just that, myths. That is, until he is attacked by a minion of Layacon, the first werewolf, and is saved by one of Artemis's hunters. Now the hunters have a new mission, get Aiden to camp half blood, and learn of Layacon's plans for him. It will take all of Aidens wits, a gift from Hephaestus, and a bunch of girls who hate him, to save him. Wether he likes it or not, he's been thrown into a world he never thought was real, and it's gonna be one hell of a ride."

I'm already done with chapter one, look forward to that next Friday! The new schedule will allow me to develop the camping subplot more. I've making that whole thing up on the fly. In the meantime, here's the new chapter of Star Wars: Knight of Remnant.

Chapter 16: Monsters

"I just got off the line with Professor Ozpin, he told us to take up a defendable position until help arrives, after that we're going to work on decreasing the number of Beowolves. Apparently professor Port's Intel on how large the pack is was off." Yang said as she put her scroll in her pocket. The rest where quickly packing up camp so they could move out while Ruby and Ren stood guard. Yang picked up her bag as they set out. Pyrrha picked up her shield and sword as she pointed east. "There's a large hill over there we can defend, when is the help going to arrive?"

"Ozpin said about an hour. He sending professor port along with another team." Jaune grabbed his bag and set out, his leg had miraculously healed by the time they got back to the camp. "We need to get going, now." Yang looked towards the city and couldn't help but think of her team mates that weren't there with her. "Hope your weekend is going better then ours Jayden." Unfortunately for Jayden, it wasn't. It really wasn't.

"We've got company!" Jayden, Weiss and Blake grabbed their weapons, but before they could get up Autumn was gone. "I knew it! I knew she'd leave the second things got dangerous!" Jayden lit his lightsaber. "No she didn't, just trust me on this one." Suddenly a hatch on the roof of the car opened and a man with a strange mask jumped in. He reached under his cloak and pulled out eight daggers that, instead of handles, had rings he put his fingers through. "Weiss Schnee. My master, Hassan Dimund, sends his greetings. However, he has no interest in visitors, leave now and you and your friends may live." Weiss drew her sword and pointed it at the man, taking a strong stance while defending her center. For being the teams "princess", she knew how to stand her ground when needed. "Sorry, but I'm not actually leading this mission. Talk to the guy with the glowing sword." She said as she tilted her head in Jayden's direction. Jayden stepped forward and drew his sword, which he held in a reverse grip. "Sorry man, but you're gonna have to tell your master he's getting guests wether he likes it or not. So he better start setting out the tea." The masked man slowly nodded his head side to side as a dark mist began emanating from his body. "So be it then. My name is Skadu, and your life ends here."

Suddenly he was gone along with the mist. "Where'd he go?" Weiss asked. "Blake on your left! He's invisible!" Blake flew to the other side of the car as Jayden swung his saber at Skadu. He analyzed the situation in his head. "It's not like Autumn, he can move, but I can also sense him." Suddenly he appeared again and slashed Jayden's face. A deep cut got him across his right eye, barely missing the eye itself. Jayden's bandana fell off onto the ground. Despite this, there was so much blood in his eyes he still couldn't see. Luckily he could sense Skadu's aura, a shadowy black fog like they saw earlier. With this he could fight. He slashed his saber at Skadu like a baseball bat knocking him to the other end of the car, his aura allowed him to survive, barely. "Autumn now!" Suddenly Autumn reappeared and struck her Gurkha at his back. It pierced him and she pulled the trigger forcing her to slash upwards. Blake followed through by rushing him and kicking him up through the same hatch he came from and on to the roof.

The four of them followed him onto the car roof, they where traveling through the mountains now, a ravine hundreds of feet below. "Careful guys! Lose your balance and no amount of aura will save you!" Aura may let them survive being shot and stabbed, but falling thousands of feet, not so much. And Jayden had no aura, so he had to be twice as careful. Skadu was injured, he hadn't been prepared for Autumns attack so they wounded him, but it wasn't fatal, the bullet and blade missed anything really important. Suddenly, out from under his cloak, he pulled out a clear pouch filled with a sickly purple gas. "Make no mistake young ones, my master is always with me." He opened the pouch and breathed in the gas, even from under his mask they could see his eyes grow wide. Suddenly he rushed them, far faster then he was before. Weiss activated a glyph that sent them onto the car behind them, but Skadu merely leaped on to it. His attacks where wide and powerful, easy to doge and block, but they couldn't do it forever, one mistake and he'd easily send them off the train. Jayden threw his sword at him which he kicked out of the way. Even though it cut his foot open badly he barely seemed to notice. "The hell is with this guy! He's acting like he's high or something!" Autumn had seen enough people OD before to tell when someone was under the influence. He rushed them, grabbed blake and threw her back onto the car from before. Jayden jumped over Skadu and over to Blake, whom he grabbed before she fell of. He ran back over and was about to jump when suddenly Skadu appeared and stabbed Jayden in the side, and threw Jayden down towards the track. Jayden managed to grab onto the car and avoid ending up as road kill, but not before he dropped his saber, which ended up cutting the link connecting the cars. He used the force to grab his saber, but in seconds the car behind them was long gone. He held on as Blake pulled him up. Grabbing his side, trying to stop the bleeding, he yelled at blake in desperation. "Where's Skadu!" Blake looked back, the other car now out of sight. "He's with Weiss and Autumn."

Yang paced on top of the hill, as much danger as they where in, she found herself worrying about Jayden. They'd gone off on a dangerous, self imposed mission and here she was hiding from monsters. "I should be there, I should be helping them. I should be helping him." Now if help didn't get there soon enough, she may never be able to help him again. "God, the hell was I thinking? I should have tried harder to understand him!" She thought to her self. Without realizing it she'd treated him like a stranger, when he needed her most she'd turned her back on him. Left him to fend for himself. It was unforgivable. "They're here!" Ren shouted. Yang looked down the hill, several Beowolves where running up the hill. Ruby and Pyrrha where snipping them as they came up, but several more where coming. "You ready Ren?" Yang asked as she activated Ember Cecila. Rens guns came out of his sleeves and he cocked them. "Locked and loaded." She nodded to him as they ran and jumped over Ruby and Pyrrha, launching a hail of bullets on the Grimm. She wouldn't be able to make it up to Jayden if they died. That'd have to wait. The mission had to come first.

Autumn couldn't stand Weiss Schnee. There was not a single person on the planet she hated more then a Schnee. After what they did to her, she was tempted to kill her and blame Skadu, but wether she liked it or not, she needed Weiss. Skadu rushed her but she managed to jump over him. "Schnee, we need to take this guy out fast! He's gotten high some how, he doesn't have any natural limits on his strength, pain is irrelevant to him. He may as well be a robot now!"

"And what do you propose, exactly?" Weiss asked as she parried Skadu, slashing him repeatedly. He want even trying to deflect the blows with aura, he didn't even notice the blood gushing from his stomach. "It's crazy and suicidal but it may well kill him, derail the train. Your semblance should save us!" She was right, it was suicidal, but those glyphs of Weiss's could save them. Weiss looked at the train, it was still moving quickly, Autumn was right, she could derail it. "By me time!"

Weiss ran past Skadu, Autumn immediately took her place using a flying round house kick. Skadu turned and tried to slash her throat, Autumn blocked with her knife and punched him in the face. She side kicked his stomach and he almost fell of the train, but he hung on with his knives before he fell. Autumn emptied an entire clip on him, but he managed to deflect all the bullets with his knives. Was he getting faster? "Now!" Suddenly a huge wall of ice appeared on the tracks. The train smashed into it, the sound of metal scrapping against ice was nauseating. The train teetered over the edge, Weiss created another block of ice on the side of the train pushing it over the edge.

They where in free fall when Autumn hit something solid. A white symbol was right beneath her. She groaned, even if it was a glyph, hitting it suddenly in free fall hurt. A lot. "Get up, you should be able to jump up the rest I made." She rolled over and saw three other glyphs leading up to the tracks, she stood up and jumped, the glyph boosting her height, and was soon on the tracks. "That's was insane." Autumn looked at Weiss, what right had she to judge her? "Ok, up you come up with the plan next time!"

"I will! And it won't get us nearly killed, not like you have no problem with that. Like Jayden said, your a thief and a murderer, you're nothing but a monster." Weiss turned to walk in the direction of the train, but suddenly autumns hand was over Weiss's mouth, and her knife against her throat. Her smile made it look like she was bordering insanity. "Hehehe! You're right Schnee, I'm a scary little monster." Weiss was sweating, was this how she died? At the hands of a petty thief? "But never forget, you're the one that made me into this beast!"


	17. Chapter 17

Authors notes: I am so sorry the release schedule has been so messed up lately. I work in a super market and we've been swamped since thanksgiving. It only got worse as we got further into December, the other day a lady yelled at me when I told her we where out of red and green nail polish. She started yelling "how could you forget the most important part of christmas!" So remember that kids, christmas is about nail polish. Not to celebrate the day Jesus was born so he could die and save all of us from eternal damnation. So needless to say I haven't had much time to write, this is a short chapter as it is and I've been writing it since my last update. But here it is. I hope you enjoy it and have a merry Christmas and a happy late Hanukah!

Chapter 17: Sins of the Father

"What the hell are you talking about?" Autumn put her knife closer to Weiss's neck, it was barley touching the skin of her throat now, one move and she was dead. "Shut it Schnee! It's cause of you my life's been hell, why I've slept in the gutters for years, why I'm forced to fight with animals with scraps of food, why I've become a murderer! You and your fucking family took everything from me!" She moved her knife and kicked Weiss into the cliff side wall, Weiss reached for her sword only to realize it was gone. She looked to Autumn who pointed mynstritter at her, finger on the trigger of the dust release chamber. "What where you doing on October fifteenth, twelve years ago?" Autumn asked as she slowly stepped towards Weiss.

"What does that have to with anything you freak!" Autumn thrust the sword towards her face, stopping just short of her right eye. "Answer the question!"

"I don't remember! That was years ago!" Autumn lowered the sword, her eyes filling with tears that dropped out the chest of her jacket. "I do. I was in the living room of my family's two room apartment talking with representatives from the Schnee dust company. My parents where miners, there was an explosion that caused the mine to cave in. They survived and the company had the resources to save them, but they decided it would be to expensive to save the crew. They where all Faunus, and everyone of them suffocated in there. On the paperwork my parents where listed as 'lost resources'." She shot her Gurkha off just to the left of Weiss's head. Her face full of savage hate again. "Not even people, resources! No legal action was pursued and with in just a week, all my family's life savings where gone. I was evicted, with no family I was left to rot on the street. So you're right, I am a monster, and you're the good doctor that made me."

Weiss had next to no time to move Autumn out of the way before the knife flew towards them. It landed a foot above Weiss's head just as she started to Sarandon back up. Autumn rolled over in her back to see who threw it. "Oh god, he survived that!" There before them stood Skadu, standing just on the edge of the cliff. Weiss stood up and grabbed her sword from Autumn. "I'm sorry for what my family has done to you. You have every right to want me dead, but right now you need to run, head towards the train, I'll catch up when I'm done here."

"Bu-" Weiss snapped her sword towards Skadu. "Just do it. I'll catch up when I'm done here." Autumn looked at Skadu, then in the direction the train had gone. "This isn't over Schnee." Autumn got up and ran as fast as she could in the direction of Blake and Jayden. Skadu tried to follow, but before he could Weiss made an ice barrier blocking the path. "This ends here assassin." With that she rushed and engaged him.

"Jayden, what should we do?" Blake asked as she bandaged his side. With out aura attacks that would merely bounce off her and the others where life threatening to him. He moved his arm to make sure it wasn't hurt, when he confirmed it wasn't he told her the plan. "First, we need to make sure there ok. Master, you there?" Suddenly a voice came seemingly from out of nowhere. "Yes Jayden, your friends are ok. Autumn is attempting to catch up while Weiss distracts Skadu." Blake fell backwards and nearly fell off the train. She looked around wildly to see who had spoken. "Jayden, what the hell is that." Jayden rubbed the blood from his eyes as he put a bandage over them for the sake of Qui-Gons training. "Oh yeah. Blake this is master Qui-Gon. He's a ghost that's come back from the after life to make sure I don't go all sith on you guys. He's pretty cool, minus the whole not having a visible form thing." Blake just sat down and looked at jayden directly where his eyes where. "Jayden, did you have some of that purple smoke." Jayden rubbed his side as the car bumped slightly, they where coming out of the mountains now, they where about thirty minutes from their destination. "Hey, I don't do drugs anymore. Been clean for about three years now." Blake paused as she started putting in a new clip. "Wait, you where a junkie? Never pegged you for one." She finished putting in the new clip and sheathed gambol shroud. "Yeah, I was ten when I first got high, was into crack. Thought it helped me cope with my problems, really just made them worse, plus my force powers would get all out of whack. Either ways, we're too far away to help the others. I trust Weiss can take care of Skadu, and if they make it they make it, but we may need to take Hassan by our selves."

"What's the plan?"

"Don't die."

When the train pulled into the station they got off. They waited for a guard to pass and quietly hopped off and left before anyone saw. "Where's the airport Blake?" Jayden asked as he adjusted the white gauze he was using as a new blind fold. "It's about a mile from here. The plane is set to leave in two hours, if we hurry we'll make it with plenty of time. Jayden reached out with the force, the reason he had the blindfold was so he could see without his eyes. Time to put his training to the test. "Blake, get on my back and hold on." He said as he turned his back to her and leaned over. "What? Why!" She said as she took a step back, surprised by the strange request. "We're gonna hurry. Now get on." She hesitantly obliged him and got on. She held on to his neck tightly, and suddenly they where running faster then traffic.

Weiss dodged as Skadu attempted to slash her throat. "How did you survive that fall!" Skadu side kicked her stomach and lunged at her, Weiss created a glyph to block him and jumped back. "I will not stop until my masters orders have been see through!" Jayden and blake had to be at their destination by now. Best she could hope for was to stop this guy and hope those two where able to take Hassan down. Skadu jumped over the glyph and landed behind Weiss. He was about to stab her in the chest, there was less then a foots distance between them, she had no time to react. But, before his knives made it, another knife, much larger then his, thrust through the left side of his chest. He fell to his knees allowing to see a red head with familiar fox ears holding the knife. "But I saw you run, how'd you get here?" Autumn pulled the knife from Skadu's lifeless body allowing it to fall in the ground. "You haven't figured it out yet? My semblance is absolute invisibility, no heat sig, no aura presence, nothing as long as I don't move." She turned around and started running down the tracks. "Now come on, we have a bounty to catch." Suddenly she slowed to stop and turned around. "Oh, and don't think this means I forgive you."


	18. Chapter 18

AUTHORS NOTES: Hello and happy new year everyone. Hope your all having a good year so far. I'm planning the series out a bit and I was wondering, how would you guys like to see team RWBY and JNPR head to the Star Wars Galaxy. Please, tell me what you think in either the comments or message me directly. Hope you enjoy the new chapter. And you should drink some caffeine while you read it, just a suggestion.

Chapter 18: Did someone order coffee?

"Yang! When did Ozpin say help would arrive?" Ren yelled from five feet away. He shot two Beowolves on his left and three on his right. One tried to rush him from the front, he used his left gun to stab and hold it back while he used the other to shoot it. They'd taken their positions at the base of the hill to hold off the Beowolves, but soon they'd be over run. They're where simply to many of them to hold back.

"Not soon enough! Now fall back, Pyrrha and Jaune will be able to help us!" Yang stayed back a few feet behind Ren to hold the pm off but quickly followed them. "Damn, we're getting killed out here! Could really use the others right now." Suddenly she thought of Jayden, she thought of that night on the roof. She was furious at him still, but she also felt ashamed. She turned around and hit a Beowolf in the stomach knocking it in to two others. They ran half way up where the other Jaune and Pyrrha where positioned. The base of the hill was a sea of white and black, there was at least a hundred Beowolves, if not more. Most where waiting, but every few minutes they came up a few dozen at a time. A few dozen was enough to push them back. They finally made it but now more where joining. Yang put a new belt in as she assessed the situation. "Well guys, looks like where screwed."

Pyrrha drew her spear and thrust her shield out as Jaune followed suit. "Not yet we aren't!" She ran to the oncoming horde and began slashing thorough the Grimm. She turned around, standing before her was a Beowolf, it brought its claw down on her but she managed to block with her shield. Despite that, she was pinned to the ground. Struggling to keep the Grimm off of her. She looked around, no one was looking back. Her arms glowed a deep red that matched her hair, she clenched her jaw as she thrust her shield out with more force then she could possibly muster on her own. The Beowolf stumbled back and she threw her spear into its head. She got up and grabbed her spear, she spun around and countered another Beowolf cutting its arms off. Another one on her left received a sword to the stomach. She looked over to Ren and Jaune. Ren stood in the middle of a field of dissipating bodies while Jaune was busy covering his back.

Meanwhile Yangs aura was blazing, she punched a tree next to her causing it to fall on several Grimm in front of her. Once the Grimm disappeared it began to roll down the hill taking out more Grimm. Some managed to jumping over it however. And to make matters worse, the pack decided to stop waiting. It was only a few at first. Some rouge Beowolves trickling in, but soon dozens more joined, then they all rushed up the hill. Yang looked at them as Norra and Ruby desperately tried to hold them back with grenades and sniper rounds but it wasn't enough. "No." Was all yang could mutter as she realized the inevitable outcome of the situation. Her resolve steeled she reloaded her gauntlets. Her only regret was she'd never get to tell Jayden the truth.

"We're making good time Blake, we should be at the air field in a few minutes." They weaved between cars and dodged pedestrians on the side walks. When a large semi came their way he jumped onto the hood, much to the surprise of the driver, and continued running along the top of the trailer. He got off and started heading toward a bridge that crossed a river which cut the city in half.

"How are you running so fast!" Blake yelled as she held on for dear life.

"The force lets me run really fast! Don't worry, if we get hit by something you still have eight lives."

"Not funny!" She yelled as they started across the bridge. Unfortunately she was about to need those lives. As soon as she said that Jayden tripped and they tumbled over the side. "Jayden what's wrong!" She yelled as they fell through the air. Jayden's eyes had a glazed look in them, he was unresponsive as she smacked his face to wake him up. She looked down, in just a few seconds they'd hit the water with so much force that it might as well be concrete. With no time to think she pulled him into her and do a barrel roll in mid air. She'd be able to survive the fall, her aura would protect her, but Jayden would be killed on impact. However, if she broke the surface tension it might just be enough that they'd both make it out this alive. She held him as close to her as possible, gripping him with all her strength, she felt his chest rise and fall as he took quick, short breaths. His face touched hers, it burned like he had a fever and he was sweating profusely. Suddenly it felt like her whole back had been lashed with a whip. Bubbles enveloped them as they slowly sunk. She oriented herself and swam up while she carried Jayden. Blake emerged and gasped for breath. She looked around and saw the shore. She swam to it and got onto the bank of the river. Jayden started to groan and blink. "Jayden! The hell happened?"

He sat up and gasped for breath. "I think... I think Yangs in danger." He'd been running perfectly, maintaining a constant speed and avoiding anything that might trip him up. Suddenly he saw Yang being attacked by a Grimm he couldn't quite make out and next thing he knew Blake was swimming him to shore.

"What? How do you know?"

"I," He paused a second to catch his breath. "I felt it in the force. We need to call to make sure."

They stood up and he pulled out his scroll. His face twisted on frustration as he realized they fell in a river. "Ahh jeez. They probably don't work now!"

Blake looked at the river bed behind them and drew her sword. "Jayden. That's not the worst of our problems."

"Dammit there's to many of them!" Yang screamed as she beat back five Beowolves with one punch, even so there was still to many. It was a free for all now. Ren and Nora where side by side, Ren slicing them as Nora smashed them. Jaune and Pyrrha where about five feet to her left, back to back swords out and desperately cutting as many as they could down. "Well Rubes, looks like this is it."

Ruby put in a new clip and cocked her scythe back. "Not yet Yang." She swung her scythe back and rose petals began falling to e ground around her. Suddenly she burst forward so quickly yang didn't even see her move. The air displacement caused the trees to bow in her direction as Grimm flew in the air and dissipated before they hit the ground. She stopped behind the horde, she took a runners position and breathed deeply. Her hood flapped in the gentle breeze that rolled down the hill. "One shot Ruby." She ran. Ran faster them she'd ever run before. Suddenly she she jumped, using the momentum to carry her forward. Crescent Rose switched to battle scythe mode and she began to spin in mid air. She was a tune of red as she plowed through the Beowolves like wheat in a field.

Suddenly she found her being flung into the ground. A Beowolf looked down on her as it raised its claw to end her. Yang ran to her sister. "No. Not again!" She yelled, when suddenly a giant mass of green fell to the ground. She stopped and skid forward a few feet. She looked up to see an aircraft hovering a few hundred feet above them. Four others jumped out and landed around her.

"hmm. Seems my recon was off a little bit this time." Professor Port said as he stroked his mustache. "Well, let's get to it shall we!"

She looked and the others when a girl in a brown shirt with sun glasses and a beret walked up. "You looked like you could use some help." She reached her hand out and shook Yangs hand. "The names Coco." She looked at the others, Velvet and another guy she didn't quite remember. "Fox, go help the two with the swords out. Velvet, you have the guy with the pink high light. Yang, we're helping Yatsutari." The others went to their positions, diving through the pack as if it where nothing. Coco took off her purse and it began to transform into a mini gun. "Let's go help that girl."

She and Yang started to slowly make their way through the Beowolves. Ruby was no longer pinned like she had been a minute ago. Yatsutari held a large, bronze colored sword. He took dozens of Beowolves out in a single swing. The tides where turning now, the Beowolves where being pushed back by the sudden reinforcements, the where winning. She ran next to her sister and shot a Beowolf pouncing to her back. "Well Ruby guess you where right."

Ruby shot another Beowolf and sliced one on her left flank. "Of course I was. Guess you will get to see Jayden again." Yang blushed. She had to admit, even though she was still angry at him, she'd wished he'd been there with them the whole time. Even more so then Weiss and blake.

"yeah. And when I do I should probably apologize to him for being a bitch. Then apologize to Weiss for taking her role."

"Friends of yours Blake?" He asked as about a dozen people in white fang uniforms ran towards them. Jayden unsheathed his sword leaving his saber on his belt loop. "If my lightsaber got too wet the energy focuser is probably be on the fritz, not in the mood for getting my hand blown off." He left his sheath on his side, he was going to need a free hand soon.

Blake stood in front of him. "Not any more." She put a clip in Gambol Shroud and held the blade so it guarded her center. "Looks like Weiss has some time to catch up."


	19. Chapter 19

Authors note: Short chapter this week guys, sorry bout that. Almost done with this arc and we should be getting to the mission in just a few weeks, so look forward to that! Also, I'm thinking of switching from a third person Omniscient POV to a first person POV. I think it will make the story feel more personal and thus more enjoyable. Also, anyone else excited for RWBY vol. 3? I know it's months away but I can't wait to see what happens! As always please enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 19: Strained relations

The White Fang soldiers had them surrounded on two sides with the river on their right. A large wall prevented them from escaping on their left. "Looks like twenty, maybe twenty five. Think we can take them Blake?" Blake wasn't listening, her back as against Jayden's facing the soldiers behind him. She put a new clip in Gambol Shroud and cocked it. Jayden looked at the soldiers in front of them, they where vastly outnumbered and he wouldn't be able to use his saber. He'd have to remember to waterproof it when they got back. He turned his head and whispered into Blake's ear. "Blake, don't hesitate."

The soldiers waited on either side of them for an opening to attack. "Don't worry Jayden, I know what to do."

The soldiers charged them from both sides. Jayden force pushed several out of the way while deflecting several bullets with his sword. A few made it through the telekinetic blast and where met with a blast of lightning. While three fell writhing in pain as their muscles convulsed, another dodged the lightning and met Jayden's sword with a crimson long sword. Jayden parried it and rolled under his aggressors blade. He brought his hilt down on Jayden's head causing him to roll into the passed out soldiers. "Glad to see one of you can fight, for a second I thought it wouldn't be a fair fight!"

The man wore the standard mask and uniform for the white fang, though the bull horns where probably somewhat unique. "Silence human, stand down and come with us, then you and your friend may live." Jayden looked over to Blake, she was surrounded, but her after images where distracting the assailants evening the fight. The soldier pointed his sword at Jayden and pushed a button on the hilt. Starting form the tip the sword was quickly engulfed with flames." What will it be boy?"

Jayden looked back over to Blake and smiled as he stood. "Blake, you're gonna want to dodge!" Blake looked over to Jayden and nodded. The man rushed Jayden with his sword, but instead of attempting to doge or block he started to crouch, when the man was just about on him he pushed himself off ground increasing his leg strength with the force until he was about thirty feet in the air. He grabbed his scabbard and did a barrel roll in the air, his arm arcing with lightning. Everyone looked up at him, using the distraction blake made a run for it. Once she was a safe distance away Jayden reached out with the force, and with all his hight, threw his scabbard straight down to the ground. It raced down in a pillar of lightning landing right in front of the person who'd attacked him. The shock wave churned up the earth and blasted the soldiers with electricity. Those able to quickly scattered. What had been a river bed just seconds ago was now a crater of rubble and passed out Faunus.

Jayden landed several feet from the scabbard. He plucked it from the ground and looked around. "Well, looks like we're done here." He headed the way Blake had run to find her. But before he could leave a pice of earth moved, revealing the bull Faunus who'd engaged him moments earlier. "Oh come on, that definitely should have knocked you out."

He was surrounded by a glowing gray light. He breathed heavily as he pulled his sword out from the ground and ignited it. "You have telekinesis and lightning blasts? Plus you can fight even with your eyes covered. I've never heard of such feats. What are you?" Jayden tensed at the question. It was the question he'd heard dozens of times before, the question that was the most dangerous thing to his existence, the question that could lead people to the truth. And he knew exactly how to handle it.

In a burst of speed Jayden met his opponents sword with his own blade. While he blocked it with his fire sword Jayden smashed his scabbard into his stomach causing the Faunus to double back. Jayden reached his hand out as if he where gripping a cup. Suddenly the Faunus flew in the air and reached for his throat. He kicked his legs about as he gasped for breath. Slowly Jayden tightened his grip, he could see the panic beneath his mask. It disappeared from his face with a snap. His body went limp and blood trickled out his mouth, Jayden threw his body in the river. He was a White Fang, when it was found no one would care. "Jayden, what did you do?"

He turned around to see blake crawling over a large slab of rock then sliding down to reach him. She looked at the body as it slowly floated down the river, her eyes wide in horror and disappointment. Jayden sheathed his sword and hung it by his side. "He was getting to close to the truth,I'm had to deal with him."

Blake's face quickly turned, her jaw clenched and a vain in her head bulged. Jayden had just enough time to dodge a fist that flew at his face only to lurch over as another rammed into his gut. "And whose fault was that? You shot lightning and used telekinesis, of course people are gonna wonder! You know damn well no one has two semblances. You know you have to be careful with your powers, you keep it hidden at school just fine, but that doesn't change in the field!"

Jayden stood up holding his second stomach, he spat a few times as he caught his breath. He moved his braid out of the way and looked at blake. "Why are you so mad? I screwed up. Fine, I'm sorry. But I took care of the problem, see, he's dead." To make his point he pointed down the river, the body almost out of sight.

Blake punched him again, successfully in his face this time. "That's why I'm mad! You messed up so someone else had to die? Is it just damage control to you, did he deserve it? He made a mistake joining the white fang, but he could have been helped! Now..." She paused as she looked at the others, passed out on the ground. "Now he can never do anything about it."

Jayden wanted to punch her now, she was the last person he wanted telling him off for killing someone. He'd done it dozens of times. A few times during the war, a lot since he came to remnant. But she'd done it just as many times. And some directly affected him. He turned around and lifted up his shirt to reveal the long scar that crossed his back. The one she'd given him. "And did she deserve die? Did she deserve to have your blade thrust through chest? Did she deserve to drown in her own blood as you chased me through the wilderness, our only sin being humans who found your little club?"

Blake stared at the long white dent in his flesh. "Who's she?"

Jayden dropped his shirt, surprised she had the audacity to ask that. He turned around and looked at her. He didn't do anything, just looked. But finally he couldn't contain it anymore. He slapped her in the face with the back of his hand. His arms where starting to spark with electricity again, like the night a few days ago when he'd learned the truth of what happened to the Order."You don't even remember her, girl who was with me that night? The one you murdered in cold blood! Well let me remind you, her name was Raz. She was eighteen back then, I'd met her about a month earlier and she was one of the few people who'd shown me kindness in years. She took me in knowing what I'd done, that I was a thief and murderer. She caught me trying to steal from her house on the outskirts of Mystral but instead of calling the cops she offered me a meal. Eventually she offered to let me stay with her. I was their that night because she had to visit a sick relative in the wilderness. She died because she used her self as a sheild to save me." Tears filled Blake's eyes as she realized what he was referring to, but that wasn't enough for Jayden. The lightning arced more violently on his arms, he anted her to suffer. "I'm trying to be your friend Blake, I want to forgive you, but don't you dare try and take the moral high ground with me. We're the same, the difference is I remember every one I've killed. I don't forget my sins."

A slow clap started from the top of the wall. A man wearing a red leather jacket with combat boots slid down on to the rubble to join them. He pulled a Gurkha gun similar to Autumns out from a sheathe on his back. "Well, that was a nice story there. To bad I won't get to hear how it ends."


	20. Chapter 20

Authors notes: Hey guys! It's been awhile and a lot's happened since the last update. Including, as many of you know by now, the tragic death of Monty Oum, creator of RWBY and Roosterteeth's head animator, two weeks ago. He was an inspiration to many, including myself, and his work ethic was admirable. Though he is missed by his many fans from around the world, he wouldn't want us to be sad by his passing. He would want us to move forward, to pursue are own dreams and passions to the best of our abilities and never give up. Which brings me to my next topic, the reason I haven't updated in so long. As you may know, the purpose behind writing this fanfic was to improve my writing abilities. I feel that this fanfic has helped me as best as it can. So I've moved on to the next step. Writing my own book. While that takes priority, I do intend to continue this story, how ever long that may take. I can not, however, guarantee I will be able to update as often as I have in the past. I think this is what Monty would want though, to keep moving forward. I hope you all understand. You're a wonderful audience and I'm glad you've enjoyed reading my work. Hopefully one day soon you'll be able to walk into the book store or the library and read my own, original works. And when you do, I hope you'll enjoy it even more then you did this. Thank you.

Chapter 20: Her Own Person

He walked over to us nonchalantly swinging his knife around in little circles. He whistled a tune, it sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place it. He looked at me then to Blake. "And you would be?" I asked as I held my sword out to keep him at a distance. He was pissing me off, acting like we where insects he could crush when ever he wanted, like he had all the time in the world. My fight with Blake would have to wait, this guy took priority. And we had to finish the job quickly to make sure Yang was ok.

He put a clip in and cocked the gun. The slide snapped into place and he pointed it at me. "Guess Skadu failed. The names Roi, I work for Dimund. That other guy was supposed to stop you but we can all see how that worked out. The White Fang guy said his men could do it but they're worse then Skadu apparently. So that just leaves little 'ol me." Suddenly a dark red symbol that looked like a poinsettia appeared on his hand. Before I could realize what he was doing a slab of earth rammed into me and Blake. I managed to cushion the impact just enough so that it didn't kill me. But it still managed to knock me over. I rolled over and put my blade up just in time to meet his. He still had a smug look on his face, and I was only getting more pissed off. "Sorry kid, nothing personal but Dimund pays well."

I pushed him off me with the Force. Suddenly I realized what happened, his semblance was telekinesis. And I'd given him a whole lot of stuff to use when I used my scabbard earlier. I deflected several shots from his knife while Blake snuck up behind him. She struck him in the back knocking him towards me. I jumped up and rammed my knee straight in his face knocking him back towards Blake who kicked him in the stomach. He looked about done, a lot easier then Skadu.

Unfortunately he wasn't as incapacitated as we thought. He swung around and brought his foot up hook kicking her in the head. She fell over and dropped her sword. He sent another telekinetic blast my way knocking me in to the river. I stayed under for a few seconds and analyzed my situation. My teammate was passed out, if my saber wasn't on the fritz before it definitely was now, and if I didn't do something soon I probably wouldn't be leaving that river. Ever. It actually reminded me of a time in Atlas when I was nearly drowned by a robot with some corrupted programming. And it gave me an idea, I beat that robot by ramming a loose pipe through its head. I grabbed it with the force and pulled it to me as fast as I could.

The whole point of Qui-Gon's blind fold training was to become more in-tune with the force, be able to reach out to my surroundings easier. I was about twelve feet vertically and four feet horizontally away from gambol shroud. I closed my eyes and tried to feel my surroundings, I felt Blake and Roi, I felt the passed out Faunus, and I felt what I was looking for. I oriented my self and looked up towards the surface of the water. I created more pressure beneath me with the force and just a few seconds later I saw a familiar black blade fly over my head. I immediately released the pressure and propelled myself up.

I burst out of the water and grabbed Gambol Shroud. "Hope this thing is loaded." Full auto guns only have three seconds of accuracy, I timed it so that I fired a volley of three shot bursts from the air. I could fire a lot more rounds in three seconds, but I'd rather not risk less accuracy. The shots bounce away once they get a few inches from him. I landed on the ground and pulled a small piece of rubble towards his back. His semblance seemed... Different. The rock flied towards his back, but like the bullets it just bounced away. But this time he glances behind him and tightens his grip on his knife.

Now I think I've got his semblance pinned. It's not telekinesis like most people have. Everyone I've know with telekinesis either needed visual contact with the target or, like me, at least an awareness of the object. "Your telekinesis is automatic. It works when ever you want it to or when your body is in danger." I tightened my grip on the gun and wrapped the ribbon around my wrist. Blake shifted and opened an eye, mine met hers and we immediately knew what we would do. "But you lack control."

He fired his knife at me. I blocked the bullets with my sword while returning fire with Gambol Shroud. He blasted more rubble at me. I jumped over it and threw Gambol Shroud at him. He knocked it out of the way with his knife, but I planned on him doing that. Blake burst up and quickly grabbed it. The ribbon slipped of my wrist and fell to the ground. Roi turned around to intercept Blake. But now she was behind him as well as in front of him. She was also on his sides, and above him, and every where around him. She left a cloud of black every time she made a new after image, quickly overwhelming him as he tried to find the right one.

I landed and brought my sword behind my back with a reverse grip. "Wait for it." I thought to my self as Blake continued to surround him. Suddenly he stumbled and lost his balance. I flung my sword at him, but it wasn't fast enough. He fell and the sword flew right over him landing in the rubble. "Shit!" I yelled as his foot finally found Blake, kicking her in the stomach. She fell backwards.

Blake tried to get up, only to have Roi grabed Her by her hair. "Well, you kids are resourceful I'll give you that." He put his knife to her throat. "You where trying to overwhelm me, put my telekinetic barrier on the fritz. Good idea, might've worked to if I hadn't fallen. Frankly I don't know for sure, no ones ever tried that before."

"Good to know!" Suddenly Autumn jumped off the ledge. Before any of us had a chance to process what was happening she landed behind Roi and held her own Gurkha gun to his head. "Nice weapon you got there, I think I'll take it." She smiled as she eyed the weapon, pressing her own knife to his neck.

"Dammit, you kids just keep popping out of nowhere." He slowly put his hands up and dropped his weapon.

Weiss ran up to the ledge and jumped down. "I can not believe that actually worked." She rounded to the front of him and held him at sword point. "How didn't he realize you where there?"

The barrel of the knife lined perfectly with his throat. Her finger hovered just over the trigger, ready to pull it at any second. "I may not have had any real training, but I did learn how to use aura. My semblance is perfect invisibility. Can't be seen, picked up on radar, no heat sigs. Nothing as long as I stay perfectly still."

Blake stood up and I threw her her sword and grabbed my scabbard. "For once Autumn, I'm not inclined to murder you in cold blood."

"Good to see you to Jayden. By the ways, Weiss and I took care of the bat shit crazy assassin. Oh, and I just saved your ass from this guy."

Weiss looked in my direction. "Should I call the cops Jayden?"

At the suggestion I gagged while Autumns ears and tails stiffened. "Uhh, we'd rather you not. Ozpin may have cleared the couple of charges on my head but I'd rather not get involved with them. And Autumn..." My voice trailed off as I nodded my head towards her.

"How bad are they?" Blake asked.

Autumn looked up as she recounted her many, many arrest warrants and charges. "Uh, two hundred counts of theft, three hundred eighty four counts of assault, and one count of public indecency. Don't ask about that last one."

"Then there's the things you didn't get pegged with. You've killed forty people, at least thirty four in illegal fights, and done your damnedest to piss me off every time I stayed in Vale." I said as I held my sword to Rois neck. We had him surrounded, now we had to find a way take him out.

"Hey, that last one ain't illegal." She said, her knife never leaving Roi's neck. "Either ways I agree, no cops. They aren't too fond of criminals. So what do we do Jayden?"

"You guys don't do anything." Before we had a chance to do anything we where all pushed back. He sent a three hundred sixty degree telekinetic blast out scattering us and lifting him several feet in the air. In retrospect it was similar to a force move I once saw my master do, not that I can remember what it's called. Autumn was blasted into the wall, her knife just missing his skin as he picked up his own. "You kids are good, so I'll cut you a deal. Come with me, Hassan will give you guys jobs." He looked to me, the to Autumn. "You two are just like I was, abandoned by society. Left to die on the streets. But we didn't, we used that suffering to become strong. Become willing to do what had to be done. Hassan likes that, and he'll make sure you never starve again."

At this point I didn't care if it blew up, I reached under my shirt and grabbed my saber. I'm not sure if I'm a Jedi anymore. Or if I even want to be one anymore. For so long, no matter what I did, no matter what I stole or who I killed that's who I was. A Jedi of the Galactic Republic. I may not be that anymore, but I still know who I am. And it's not some low life assassin. "Now listen here Jack off, I'm not some street punk like you. I am Jayden Keno, Huntsman of Beacon Academy." I lit my saber. I held my breath for a few moments as the blade extended, luckily it still had my hand by the time it was fully extended. "And I'm hear to take your ass out."

Autumn leveled her knife to his head, but hesitated to pull the trigger. Was she actually considering taking his offer? "You started off... Just like me? Living on the streets, abandoned?"

We all stood still. Weiss looked like she wasn't surprised, but wished she was. Blake pointed her gun at him, but had her eyes trained on Autumn, waiting to see what choice she made. I knew autumn better then those two, and frankly I had no idea what she would do. I was ready to fight her, always was. But Roi seemed to think he had her. He turned to her, he looked at her with empathy and understanding. Something she'd never been shown in her life. Something I should have shown her, given we where more or less in the same position. "Yes, I grew up in Atlas. My parents abandoned me when I was eight, by the time I was nine I'd already killed. I had nothing, nothing but my will to live. Hassan saw that, and bout the time I was your age, he gave me a job as one of his hit men."

He opened his mouth to say more, but Autumn had already made her decision. "I see now, all those years of starving on the street, hated and cast off by society, I could have been worse off. At least I wasn't some dog like you, eating scraps from his masters table. At least I was my own person. My choices, no matter how stupid or immoral, where my own."

"What did you say bitch?" Roi lifted his gun and pointed it at autumn, neither one wavered as they waited to pull the trigger.

Autumn pointed to her ears and smiled. "No, I'm a fox. You're the 'lil bitch! Ok guys lets beat the crap out of him and see if that works."

"You know Autumn, maybe you do have a shred of decency!" I blasted him with lightning, but it dispersed mere centimeters from his skin. But I wasn't alone.

Weiss unleashed a hail of ice from her sword while blake fired clip after clip of bullets on him, each bouncing off his shield. "You kids are stubborn you can't beat me, my semblance provides the perfect defense!"

Autumn ran up and engaged him with her knife. "Maybe it does, until you run out of aura at least." Suddenly the red poinsettia disappeared. "Night night."

Before he had a chance to realize what happened, Autumn rammed her knife through the floor of his mouth and pulled the trigger. Roi was dead before he even fell to the ground. "Glad we have him taken care of. How'd you know that would work?" I asked her as I turned of my saber.

She picked up his Gurkha gun and it's sheath. "A semblance that powerful? Of course something that powerful uses a lot of Aura. Course you wouldn't know, being an alien and not having any aura." She said.

I nearly puked as he said that. She knew? "How'd you know?"

She put the sheathe on her back and put her newly acquired in. "I've known you for the past ten years. We've done three jobs together where you used powers that where obviously not a semblance, and you've got a laser sword. Combine that with your little story earlier and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Either ways I won't tell anyone, I guess I owe you for that time in vacuo."

I clipped the saber to my side and and pulled my scabbard to me. "Well, I guess I also owe you for that time I pushed you down those stairs when we where fourteen. You know, I'm going to Beacon now, the headmaster there may be able to help you with those charges like he helped me."

"You mean the nearly six hundred counts of assault and theft?" She asked skeptically putting her other knife in its sheathe.

Weiss and Blake walked up to them. "If you two are done talking about your past attempts to murder each other, we have company." Weiss pointed towards the ledge that she and Autumn where on mere minutes ago. And I couldn't believe our luck.

"Oh, hey Hassan! We where just about to go look for you!


	21. Chapter 21

Authors Notes: Hello again every one! Well, the bounty story arc is over with this chapter. I figure since there'll be more time between updates I should try to make chapters longer. Well, in doing so I managed to get the story line all wrapped up with this chapter. I also retconned the design of Jayden's saber for reasons explained in story, it's important later on so bear with me. Also I was hoping you guys could leave comments telling me how you would describe Jayden. I want you to do this so I can help make sure his character remains consistent throughout the series. It's actually pretty easy for an author to make his characters seem schizophrenic cause we tend to make them act different depending on what the situation demands. Of course people act different in different situations, but not to the extremes that can happen in stories. As always please enjoy and leave comments!

Chapter 21: End Game

"Well done children. You've successfully managed to take out two of my best assassins. I must say I am impressed." Hassan said as he looked down upon us. So our bounty finally decided to just come to us. I didn't like that. He wouldn't come unless he was damn sure he could win. He only brought one person with him. She had dark skin like Skadu, and her deep purple hair went down to her waist in a large ponytail. She held a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. She nocked it and pointed it at us, it's tip a bright, burning red. Weiss immediately recognized it, as did I. A dust arrow head, incredibly difficult to create. My friend Oliver used the same types of arrows, to incredibly deadly effect, as the burn scars on my left leg can attest to. "Wait Ebony. I wish to speak with them first." He said as he calmly grabbed her bow and pointed it at the ground. "You know he was right. I am impressed by what you've done, so impressed, in fact, I'd love to hire all four of you. You're the first ones to get so far in capturing me. Most fell at the hands of Skadu's skill, the rest couldn't get past Roi's so called 'perfect defense'. In fact, I believe this is the first time I've actually had to make use of Ebony's services. Join me, and you'll have everything you could want."

Weiss turned the dust cylinder in Mynstritter. "Sorry, but I already get everything handed to me on a silver platter." She held her sword out in front of her as it began to glow a bright red. "I'll have to turn down your offer."

Blake put a new magazine in and cocked Gambol Shroud. The blade extended, pointing straight at him. "I'd rather die then work for someone like you." Her voice was a near growl. I could only imagine the anger she had towards him. Arming the White Fang, perpetuating their violence.

Autumn drew her knives and held them at her side. "Like I already said, I'm not some dog you can order 'round. How bout you Jayden?" She looked at me and something of an understanding passed between us.

I drew my sword and lit my saber. They already made my choice for me, I wouldn't abandon my friends for anything he could offer me. "I already have everything I've ever wanted. Well, everything but the thirty thousand lien on your head. I'll be taking that now."

Dimund sighed as he nodded to Ebony. "Be quick about, he's expecting the weapons by tomorrow." Ebony immediately drew back her bow and fired an arrow. She immediately nocked two more arrows and fired them followed by a fourth arrow.

Mid flight they burst into huge pillars of fire, each one the size of a bus. Weiss created a glyph that shielded us from the fire. "Any plans?" She asked as the fire dispersed off the barrier. I looked around, we where surrounded by rubble of my own making so we had some cover. But not if she fired anything to much more powerful. She switched to regular arrow heads, but her rate of fire made them equally as effective.

"A few, you guys provide cover fire, I'll try and flank her!" Weiss nodded as I left the safety of her glyph. Autumn trailed behind me knocking arrows out of the way as we jumped from cover to cover. We ducked behind a large slab of earth, it wouldn't hold up against a fire arrow but it gave us enough time to coordinate our strategy. "All right Autumn, I'll distract her. I want you to sneak up and become invisible. I'll give you an opening and when I do you take it. Got it?"

She nodded as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a magazine of brightly colored bullets. "Was waiting for a special occasion to use these. Stole them a few months ago from an army base near the kingdoms border." She put the dust infused bullets in her knives and cocked them back. "All right lets do this."

I crouched and pushed myself up over the rock. Several arrows flew straight at me. I swung my saber in tight arcs cutting them in half. Autumn ducked out from behind the rock and fired at Ebony. Her bullets crackled with electricity as the streaked through the air. Ebony stopped firing at me and weaved her body between the bullets as they flew past her. It was all one fluid motion, she didn't miss a beat as she nocked a new arrow, one with a snow white tip. "Hit the deck!" Autumn yelled as she drew back. Weiss made a glyph bringing her over to us while Blake stayed. "Dammit blake now!" Autumn yelled again. The arrow flew straight towards her. At the last possible second blake jumped, leaving behind an after Image.

Her plan was obvious to me, make Ebony think she'd gotten her then launch a sneak attack. But as soon as the arrow hit the after image the after image began to freeze. The ice quickly expanded until it was seven feet tall. Blake was frozen up to her waist in it. She struggled to get free, but it was no use. "Hold on Blake!" I ran, jumping from rock to rock until finally I got to her. I jumped onto the ice right next to her. "Didn't realize she was using an ice arrow did you?"

"Just help me get out!" She was struggling to get her self free from the ice. Weiss and Autumn had made it up to Ebony and where engaging her. She blocked both their attacks fluidly, never skipping a beat. Block Weiss with her bow, counter Autumns knife. She was taking two opponents easier then I could take one. If we didn't get there soon they'd be over whelmed, and I don't think Hassan was interested in taking any of us prisoner.

I put my hand to the ice, I slowed my breathing and focused on my palms. I could smash the whole block with a large enough force push if I wanted, but not with out risking harm to Blake. Instead, I sent small pulses through the palm of my hands to the ice. It started to shake violently almost causing me to slip off. "Lower frequency Jayden, come on this is elementary force use." I told my self as the shaking lessened and became more focused to the area around me and blake. It became even more focused, the shaking stopped and became a slight vibration around Blake. Steam started to rise as the ice melted around her giving her enough wiggle room for me to pull her out.

She extended Gambol Shroud into its sword mode. "Thanks Jayden. Now what's the plan?"

Autumn and Weiss where at the end of their ropes. They where barley holding up against Ebony who seemed to be able to perfectly predict and counter their moves. Hassan stood back aways, he adjusted his glasses and tie as he took out a pocket watch. "Blake, I suggest you brace yourself." She crouched as I held my palm back near my ribs. I focused the Force into my palm, the pressure felt like it would crush my hand. And when I couldn't take it any more, I thrust my palm forward stopping just short of Blake's back. She flew forward at an astonishing speed, she managed to adjust herself mid flight and nearly kicked Ebony straight in the face. But again Ebony managed to dodge her at the same time she dodged Autumn and Weiss.

"Well, that explains it." I said as I jumped over to join the fight with the others. She was able to dodge because she knew what would happen before we did it. I engaged Ebony with the others, her reflexes where extraordinary, on par with a Jedi Master even. She dodged both my swords as I thrust them towards her, kicked autumn in the face, and got behind all four of us. "Guys, her semblance is precognition. She knows what we do just before we do it." I shouted as thrust my saber at her. She dodged while she blocked my sword with her bow.

Autumn groaned as she rubbed her face. "Oh you've got to be shitting me Keno. She's got ESP?" She reloaded her knives. "Well then how do we deal with her?"

I sheathed my sword and clipped my saber to my belt. I looked to Weiss and nodded to her. "Weiss, time for White Knight." She nodded as I ran towards Ebony. "You guys cover me!" Ebony and I engaged in hand to hand. Her arrows where to dangerous to allow her to use, and until Weiss got the glyph ready she had to stay in one spot. She blocked my fist as I aimed for her trachea, she tried to kick my leg in but I jumped over her and tried to kick her I the back of the leg. She managed to move forward and doge it, but she didn't count on the force push coming out of my foot.

She collapsed on one knee, just as a bright white glyph, about five feet in diameter, appeared above us. "Jayden now! I don't know how long I can hold it." Ebony struggled to get up, I might have been able to take her out as she was. But I didn't want to take a chance, the only real way to take her out was to make sure she couldn't dodge anything. I jumped twenty feet in the air, just above the glyph. My hands arced with electricity. I focused it, focused all my anger and hate into my hands. And in one, single arc of lightning I shot the glyph. The lightning disappeared into the glyph. It glowed so brightly I had the shield my eyes as I fell back to earth. The glyph stopped glowing, and in a deafening boom released a lightning bolt the size of the glyph. A single column of electricity struck Ebony, who was dead center beneath the glyph.

The others shielded their eyes as well. The light soon faded raveling the charred corpse that had once been Ebony. I took out my saber, lit it, and turned toward Dimund. "All right Dimund. Your body guards and lackeys are done for, the authorities will be here any moment. Give yourself up."

He took off his tie and jacket. They fell to the ground as he undid the collar button of his shirt. "No no. I'm afraid I can't allow that. I've got too much tied up in this weapons deal with the White Fang, and even if you do capture me, I'll be out in a few months. I've got enough money to buy my way out of trouble. You can't win."

"Guys, leave him to me." I gripped my saber with both hands. He put his hands behind his back. He was mocking me. "Don't need a weapon?" I asked clenching my teeth.

"Oh, If I need one I'll get one." I rushed him and swung my sword at him. But he managed to dodge with out taking a step. He spun around and kicked me in the stomach. I fell back three feet. He tried to kick my face in but I rolled back and sent a force push his way. "Are you going to start fighting yet? I'm done warming up." He said as he side stepped. He was good. He wasn't just some pencil pusher. He knew how to handle himself in a fight, even more so then his own body guards maybe.

"Should we help him?" Autumn asked Blake.

"No, he said to let him take care of it, it's his bounty, he needs to catch it." Blake said cooly sheathing Gambol Shroud.

Mean while Hassan stood over Jayden and stroked his chin. "Actually, I want to test something." Before I could react he was on top of me, his foot on my chest and his open palm inches from my face. A deep purple smoke started to come out. It enveloped my head, entering through my mouth and nose. It felt wonderful.

Everything felt great. I felt stronger and faster. Like I could do anything. The pain was gone and I kicked him off of me and drew my Ninjato. I should have realized what was happening, but I couldn't think straight. Though I didn't realize it. I rushed him head on, swinging my sword and saber wildly. He kept dodging every attack until I brought both my blades up for a double downward strike. As I left my center open he took the opportunity to strike me in the solar plexus. The wind was knocked out of me and I fell to the ground gasping. I reached my hand out to strike him with lightning, but it never left my hand. It coursed up my arm and into the rest of my body. The pain should have been excruciating, but I didn't feel a thing. I tried to force push him, only to find myself flying back tens of feet.

Hassan smiled as I struggled to get up. "I thought so. My semblance is able to induce a drug like high in people. Normally this removes the body's natural strength limiters while also making them more violent. Skadu always did carry some with him in case a target was harder to deal with then expected." He rolled up his sleeve and casually walked over to me. I finally got up and tried to rush him again, but he planted his fist square in my face. "But some one like you, your powers require clarity of mind, something my smoke takes away."

I kept swinging wildly, striking and slashing only the air as Hassan twisted and dodged. Hassan grabbed my left wrist and kicked me in the chest. I dropped my sword and he pushed me back causing me to drop my saber. The sweat was dripping down my face and on to my bandana. The effects where wearing off, leaving me jittery and unable to concentrate. I wanted more. I needed more. He picked up my sword and swung it in circles at his side. "I told you if I needed a weapon I'd get one." Of course he didn't need one, he was just messing with me. Trying to get into my already unsettled head.

If Yang where here she could take this guy no problem. But as it stood I had one option. "Guys, a little help!"

"Now we can help him." Weiss said as propelled herself forward, showering Hassan with flames. Blake engaged Hassan with her sword as Autumn covered the three of us with ice rounds. I, however, just sat back down. I began to meditate in an attempt to clear my mind. Not exactly easy in the middle of a fight. Hassan didn't need pre-cog to handle them, I would need to help them for them to have a chance.

I closed my eyes and cleared my mind as best I could. The fight, only a few feet away, was starting to sound distant and muffled. The bandanna over my eyes felt like it was melting, becoming one with my face. I felt like I was growing roots, becoming one with everything around me. I even began to feel the presence of Master Qui- Gon, in his all encompassing spiritual form. My body slowly began to stop shaking, my hands rested on my legs and my breathing steadied.

In one, solid movement I jumped form my sitting position, grabbed my saber with the force, and landed between Blake and Hassan. Blake jumped back as my saber blocked my sword. He wanted to fight me with my own weapon? The thought of it pissed me off to no end. "K girls, I think I can handle him now." Our weapons hovered between our faces. The glow from the contact point reflected off his bald head. "Call me a brats for this, but if I can't have that sword no one can!" I grabbed the blade with my bare hand. The blood dripped down my arm and In one, quick force pulse, I shattered my own blade. The shards fell to the ground as Hassan stumbled backwards. This gave me just enough time to strike him in the face with my saber as my bloodied fist broke his nose. He fell to the ground, the blood pouring out of his nose. But before he could get up I turned my saber off and hit him in the head with the handle. "That's for making me break my sword."

The other three gathered around us. "Well, guess it's over." I said to Weiss as she looked at Hassan. Suddenly I remembered the broken scroll in my pocket. "Oh shit! Weiss, give me your scroll, I need to call yang!"

She took out her scroll and was about to hand it to me. "Oh no, in the fight with Skadu I think it was broken." She held out her scroll with a freshly cracked screen and an image that kept fading in and out.

"Damn." Was all I managed to say.

"Why do you need to talk to her so badly?" She asked as she put her scroll away.

I wiped the sweat from my face and sat on a rock. An air ship was landing and police where getting out to investigate the scene. So I had no way to see if she was ok short of getting back to Beacon. I turned my head towards Weiss, Blake and Autumn. "We need to get back to Beacon. Now."

The police where more then happy to drop us off at the Vale police station while they took Hassan in for questioning. It was dark now, almost midnight. We'd gotten the reward but I could only think about Yang and if she where ok. As soon as we got off the air ship the four of us immediately headed toward the school. The police offered their thanks to us for catching Hassan and all those white fang grunts but I barely heard it. We where nearing the academy's entrance when Autumn stopped me. "Hey Jayden." She asked as she grabbed my shirt collar. "This guy, can he really help me with my record?"

I shrugged as I continued towards the dorms. I was about to speak up when some one standing near the fountain stopped us. "Mr. Keno, Ms. Schnee, Ms. Belladonna. Back so soon? And you brought a friend I see." Ozpin stood in front of the fountain drinking from the same mug as always. Professor Goodwitch walked up next to him and adjusted her glasses. "May I ask your name?"

Autumn walked up to him. She looked confident and nonchalant as usual, but I could tell she was nervous as hell. "Autumn Donn sir."

Ozpin smiled And reached out to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Donn. Now, come to my office so we can discuss what it is you would like help with." She walked away with him and Goodwitch. "Guys, I'm gonna go ahead of you." With out waiting for their response I force ran all the way to our dorm room. I burst in and looked around wildly. Ruby was surprised and fell from her bed. She got up and stumbled forward a bit. "Ruby, where's Yang? Is she ok?"

Ruby got back on her bed and rubbed her head. "Of course she is. I think she went onto the roof for what ever reason. What's got you so worked up?" I didn't respond. I walked to the windows and opened them. I stepped onto the ledge and jumped up onto the roof.

As Ruby had said Yang was there opening the door about to go back down. "Yang! Thank god you're ok." She turned around and smiled. My chest got tighter as she did for some reason. She closed the door and ran over to me. I was about to apologize to her when she suddenly grabbed and embraced me. Her head was about even with mine. Her hair brushed against my face. It felt oddly soft and puffy.

She let go and started to say something. "Jayden. I'm so sorry for the way I was treating you. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I should have figured out what was wrong!"

She was apologizing to me? Isn't that a little backwards? Either ways I needed to do my own apologizing. "No Yang I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. Just because I was angry doesn't mean I should have hurt you like that. Can you for give me?"

She smiled and my chest got tense again. "Of course." We sat down on the ledge and looked at the moon in all its shattered beauty. "So how'd the trip go?" She asked.

"We got the bounty. He was a real pain in he ass to deal with but once I knocked him out he was pretty cooperative." She laughed and slapped my back.

"Bet he was. So why'd you go after this bounty anyways?" I told her about my idea to use a dust crystal for my saber and how expensive it was. "So what do you think will happen when you use it?" She asked.

I took my saber out and looked at it. It was long and simple in design, like my masters. It had a rounded bottom and had several knobs and buttons for adjusting the energy out put and for activation. "Honestly, no idea. Might not even work with dust." We looked at the moon some more. Just the two of us. "You know, while I was out there I felt like you where in trouble. And it scared me." She turned toward me, her eyes getting wide, like she was anticipating something. "I realized, the thought of losing you was the most terrifying thing I'd ever felt. I couldn't bare it." She leaned in closer her face was mere millimeters from mine. I should have felt like she was invading my privacy, but it just felt right. "Yang, you're my best friend."

She slumped back to where she'd been sitting a moment ago. "Yeah, you're my best friend to."


	22. Chapter 22

Authors Notes: Well guys, it's officially been one year since I started this. Thanks for reading my work, dealing with a less then regular release schedule, And leaving all your wonderful feed back. Along with a new chapter I've also been going back and doing some edits on the old chapters, mostly grammatical stuff, like separating chapters when a new person starts talking. I didn't realize I was supposed to when I started. I've got chapter one done and when I get a few more I'll upload them again. Hopefully this will cause more people to stick with the story. Again, thanks for reading and please leave your comments below. And a happy late Easter and Passover to everyone!

Chapter 22: A New Recruit

"All right master Yoda, you've got me interested. Why did you bring a child?" It was late. I should have been asleep with the rest of my clan mates, but master Yoda had asked me to come to the temple gardens with him. When we got there, a man I'd never seen before was there.

"Feel it, can you not? Strong in the Force he is. Far ahead of the others he is. A prodigy perhaps?" Yoda stood beside the other man, coming up only to his knees. A prodigy? I knew I was farther ahead then the others, but I didn't think I was that far ahead.

The other master seemed to sense my thoughts. As soon as I thought it he turned to me and spoke to Yoda, thought it was obviously directed at me. "Master Yoda, we should be mindful of how we speak. We don't want him getting too full of himself."

Yoda walked behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. He was older then any in the order, and smaller. But he was the biggest of any of us. "Of course. But remains, the fact does. Done is his training with me. Your Padawan he is, if accept him you will."

"What?" We both blurted out in unison. I was far too young to begin my apprenticeship I thought. Most where nearly in their teens when they ended the initiate training.

The other master continued on that thought. "Yoda, he's, what, four? Maybe five? This is incredibly unorthodox. Most younglings don't start until they're at least eleven or twelve. Master Kenobi was thirteen when he began his training under Qui-Gon." At the time I thought he was right, it wasn't normal to begin so early.

However Yoda merely smiled as he pointed his cane at him. "An unorthodox student for an unorthodox teacher. Perfect, this is, Master Harthow." That was the first time I heard his name.

Harthow sighed and shrugged his shoulders. There was no use arguing with the Jedi grandmaster. "Well, all right then." He kneeled down in front of me. I was finally able to get a good look at him. A sky blue bandana covered his eyes. His hair was grey, almost white. He looked about fifty, though his muscular build would make you think he was much younger. "Don't expect the training to be easy just because of your age. I've trained two others before you, both have become respected Knights of the order."

"So you expect the same of me, master?" I asked him. Master. He was going to be my Master for many years to come. I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of myself.

But he only smiled and put a hand on my head. "I expect you to become what the Force wants you to be, you need only listen to it." He stood up and began to walk away. "Come, we leave immediately, bring only what you absolutely need."

Yoda tapped his cane on the ground. "Wait, more there is you need to know." He walked inside with Harthow just behind. He motioned me to wait. I think I used to know what they spoke about, but not anymore.

Suddenly I wasn't on Courascant anymore. It was dark, waves crashed hundreds of feet below and splashed on us as we waited for the inevitable. "So, what do you want from your first battle kid?" Apache asked me as I wait with my saber at the ready. He put his helmet on. He'd recently painted black Mandalorian marks on it along with a black outline making the visor appear far bigger then it really was.

My eyes widened as I listened to the sounds coming from the next platform over. The Battle of Manaan. The first time I ever saw combat was an attempt to protect the only source of kolto, a powerful healing substance, from the Separatists. "Not dying would be nice." I said, with little more then a squeak.

Apache shook his head and put his helmet on. "Don't focus on that. Just focus on the now." Suddenly the blast doors gave way. Red blaster bolts flew at us causing clones to fall to the ground. "Protect the kolto!" Apache yelled as I lit my saber. I rushed forward cutting droids down from the knees as Apache finished them with his tomahawks. "Your master has a lot of faith to send you into battle with out him, I think I see why."

That's when it happened. I fell to the ground and dropped my lightsaber. A got up and saw what had tripped me. A smoke rose from the hole in his chest, his helmet was shattered on the bottom revealing a crushed jaw from where the super battle droid I'd just killed had grabbed him. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. If only I'd been a bit faster.

"So what do you want me to do with these?" I blinked my eyes open and looked off the side of my bed as Weiss jiggled the bag that held the shards of my old sword in it. I grabbed it and carefully turned it over in my hands. This sword had served me faithfully for a long time, and if my plan worked it would serve me for many more.

"Don't worry Weiss, I know what to do with it." I put the bag with my other possessions, hanging it on the side of my bed. It was Monday, but we didn't have any classes due to the teachers all having meetings. We planned to meet up with team JNPR later and do some of our own training. Of course Jaune would probably be doing whatever it was Cardin told him to do. In the meantime, I had shopping to do. The night before when I'd tried to divide the rewards between Weiss and Autumn but they'd both declined. Weiss had said she didn't need more money so I should keep her share. Autumn told me I'd done enough for her, that I'd given her a chance to do something with her life. With that she walked away. Since Blake had already said she didn't want any of the rewards that left me with twenty thousand Lien after buying the crystal. "Hey Weiss, bout how long till I get my crystal?"

Weiss said was holding her hair piece in her mouth while she did her hair. She always took the longest to get ready. I'd just woken up, seeing as how I had two sets of clothes it didn't exactly take long to get ready so I always slept about twenty minutes later then everyone. She finally put it in and grabbed Mynstritter. "It has to come all the way from Atlas, give it about three days."

"Perfect." I said as I jumped out of my bed. Three days would give me enough time to learn what I needed to. I grabbed my school bag. I needed to return the book on writing I got from the library. A photographic memory made learning things so much easier, I was already able to write perfectly after only about four days of practice. I translated all my notes from Republic basic to english the night before we went bounty hunting then burnt all of the originals to avoid them being found.

"Hey, what happened to Autumn?" Weiss asked before I walked out.

I turned around to face her. "Well, Ozpin spoke with the council. Given her situation they where willing to show leniency as long as she kept her record clean from now on. They also wanted her to do some work for them. They where so impressed with her skills they wanted her to catch a few bounties they've been having a hard time with." I said. Weiss had seemed concerned about what Autumn would do after leaving, but I hadn't thought to talk to her about it cause I was worried about Yang. "She said she'll probably do bounty hunting professionally. Don't worry, she'll be fine." I said as I walked out the door.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked as I walked out the door.

"Gott errands to run before training tonight." I said as I walked out into the hall. It was nice being back at school. Have a break from all the action. I couldn't help but worry I was going soft, not even a month ago there wasn't such a thing as breaks. The weather was beautiful, students milled about not having to worry about classes for another day. I was already at the fountain when suddenly I remembered something. I needed to pick up a temporary weapon from professor Port before I left. I was trying my best to hide the whole alien thing so I couldn't use my saber in class. Funny seeing as how I told more people since I came to Beacon then the past ten years.

It was about nine in the morning, Ozpin had told me Port was free until nine thirty so I had time. I quickly made my way from the dorm buildings to the classrooms. I knocked on the door to professor Ports class room and, in his usual booming voice, he told me to come in. "Welcome back Jayden! How was your trip?" He asked as he put his blunder axe back on the wall. Suddenly I thought of the Huntsman with his shot gun axe. For some reason I found my self wondering what happened to him. To cause him to end up where he is.

I shook myself back to reality and responded to him. "Fine. Just a simple bounty mission. Broke my sword though. Professor Ozpin said you'd give me a temp?" I said as he made his way to a closet on the far side of the room.

He rummaged through it. "Ah yes. Shame, that was a nice sword you had to. Now I've several replacement options. Would you like the rifle spear, pistol knives, Bazooka Bat, what will it be young man?"

"Got any regular swords? Preferably like my old one?" I asked. I always did prefer basic weapons models over the more advanced hybrid models. They where lighter and easier to conceal. Plus I don't have to worry about a blade running out of ammo, which got very expensive.

He closed the closet and walked to the back of the class. "Why yes I do. I figured you might want to take the time to get used to other weapons. Then again if it's what your people used..."

Before he had a chance to continue I interrupted him. "Wait, did Ozpin tell you?" I blurted out. I figured when I started here this would be the case, still I was surprised to learn he knew. All those years of making sure no one knew my origins, now in less then a month at least two dozen people knew. Maybe I should go on tv and tell the whole world, just get it all out of the way.

Port drew a sword similar to my own. After doing an initial check to make sure it was safe for use he put it back in its sheathe and walked back over to me. "Why of course, Ozpin informed all of your teachers prior to the opening ceremony. I must say, it came as quite a shock to us to learn someone from another world would be studying under us. I even heard from Ozpin you have a sword the likes Remnant has never seen!"

I reached under my shirt and grabbed my light saber. "You mean this?" I lit it, casting a faint blue glow on the two of us.

Port looked in awe of it. "Amazing." He said in a hushed voice for once. I turned it off and put it back under my shirt. "The story's you have must be remarkable! Especially for one as young as yourself." He handed the sword to me and I checked it out my self. About the same length, a few centimeters longer, I'll need to bear that in mind. Other than that it looked good.

I sheathed it and strapped it to my side. "Any story's from my time here are anything but heroic." I said, thinking about all the horrible things I did to survive. "And you don't want to hear about my time in the war."

As soon as I said it I wished I hadn't. Port immediately perked up, even more then he had been before, and started drilling me for information. "You fought in a war? How young where you?"

"Five when it started, seven when it ended. Age didn't matter, I was a Jedi, and I had to fight along side my master." I said. "And the Jedi weren't a race. They used to be an order of Knights who protected the galaxy. They're just a dead religion now."

Port nodded, when he wasn't busy telling his overly dramatized stories he was actually really good at listening. "I understand. If you ever want to talk, I'm here."

I made sure the sword was secure and began to leave. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I know he was just trying to help, but I don't need to talk about any of it. The war and my time on the streets where in the past, I needed to focus on the now. And right now I needed to get to the city.

I left Ports office and made my way to the grounds entrance. It was a bit busier than earlier so I had to wait until I was deep in the forest before I could start running at full speed. "You know, if you talked to him about the war It might help." Qui-Gon said as leaves blew in cyclones as I passed.

I dodged between trees and jumped over fallen branches. "I never talked about it before and never had any problems. Why now?"

"True, but how often did you think about the war before going to beacon?" Qui-Gon said as I skid to a halt.

"Uh, not much." I said as I leaned on a tree.

"And how many nights have you dreamt of your time in the war?" Qui-Gon asked.

I didn't want to talk about it, but they just kept brining in it up. My skin started to get hotter. I heard a faint singeing sound but ignored it. I was more concerned getting them off my back. "Look, I don't need to talk. They're just dreams they don't mean anything. Now why can't you guys just let it drop!" I said, the anger boiling and releasing before I realized it. Suddenly the tree I was leaning on burst in to flames. If I hadn't had Jedi reflexes my back would have been covered with third degree burns, but luckily I was able to jump away before any damage happened. I rolled over and looks at it. The tree was engulfed in flames, they flickered and spread before dying out. "Well that's new." I said as I got to my feet.

Qui-Gon sighed. "I was afraid of this. The trauma from the war is fueling the dark side in you, allowing you to access deeper, more powerful Sith techniques, such as this, Force convection, your rage turned into pure heat. I see I can't change your mind. When you want help, you know what to do." Qui-Gon left, leaving me alone with the smoldering tree.

I made my way to the city, regardless of what happened I still had stuff to get. I walked down the side walk looking for the department store, I desperately needed more then two sets of clothes. I pushed everything Qui-Gon and Port had said to the back of my mind. My scroll started beeping in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Yang on the caller id. I checked my messages and saw that she'd texted me. "Hey Jayden, didn't catch you this morning. I needed to head down to the city to get some ammo. Weiss said you where heading there to, wanna grab something at the cafe near the docks?" She'd said.

"Sure, just gotta grab some new clothes first. Now that I actually have some money it seemed like a good idea." I replied.

"Ok. Don't take too long." She replied. "Im almost done getting my ammo." I put my scroll away, I was at the store and had to hurry.

Thirty minutes later I walked out with five new black shirts and jeans. I started down the side walk towards the cafe, but as soon as I did I dropped my bags. In a single move I brought my hand to my shoulder, summoned my new sword into it, and turned around, cutting an arrow in mid flight before it could pierce my chest. "Dammit Oliver that was dangerous and reckless!"

In front of me stood a guy about Rubys age and height wearing a green shirt. In his hand was a green bow, on his back was a quiver of arrows over a short sword. "I knew it was you Jayden! How's it going?" He said as he slung the bow over his back.

He ran up to me, the arrows jiggling in his quiver. "You shot me so you could figure out if it was me? And you couldn't just ask?" I said, resisting the urge to test my new found fire abilities with a flaming punch to his face.

"But if I was wrong then it'd be awkward." He said as if it should obvious.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. "Oliver, for someone so smart you are so freaking stupid. Either ways, what are you doing here? Doesn't your tribe usually head north towards Atlas this time of year? You know they'll need you in case of Grimm attacks." I said as I sheathed my sword and picked up my bags.

"My dad decided it was time I decided what I want to do with my life, so I decided to see what it was like in the kingdoms. I've only been here about a week and so far not a whole lot has happened. What about you? Last I checked you where a bum, not exactly the kind of guy who goes shopping to pass the time." He said as he leaned on the wall of the store.

"Well, funny story. Not a bum anymore, I actually became a huntsman." I said much to Oliver's astonishment.

He got off the wall and smiled. "You became a huntsman? What brought that on? When I last saw you your only concern was surviving and being mostly isolated. When my dad offered to let you join our tribe you said, and I quote, 'sorry, not my style.'"

I started back down the side walk with him in tow. He picked up his arrows and walked next to me. I thought about the night Ozpin found me, I was a degenerate, hiding behind trash so I could steal from someone I foolishly thought was weaker then me. "I had a change of heart. That's all. Hey, I'm meeting a friend for lunch. Wanna join?" I asked.

"Sure. I need to see. If you're shitting me about the huntsman thing." He said as he put the broken arrow in his quiver. We made our way to the docks as I told him about my recent adventure with Weiss, Autumn, and Blake. Though I was hesitant to mention Blake.

We got to the cafe and saw Yang sitting at one of the tables outside. "Hey Yang!" I said as I pulled up a chair. "I ran into an old friend so I invited him to join us. Hope you don't mind."

Yang looked at Oliver and proceeded to rest her head on her fist. "Sure. So what's your name?" She asked as Oliver pulled up his own chair.

"Oliver Glas." He said as he put his weapons on the ground next to him.

Yang leaned back in her chair as the waiter came to take our order. After he left yang continued to question Oliver. "How did you two meet? I thought you didn't have any friends before Beacon Jayden." She asked.

"No, I just tried to lay low. I've made a few friends here and there across the world, just not a whole lot." I said as Oliver started twirling an arrow in his fingers.

"I met Jayden a few years ago when he wandered into my tribes camp while we where near Mistral. He was injured, he'd been attacked by the White Fang. He had a huge gash across his back. We healed him and he stayed with us for a few months, but he decided not to join us."

Yang sat up in her chair, seemingly interested in Oliver's background. "You grew up outside the kingdoms? Damn, that takes guts. What kind of training you got?" She asked.

Oliver picked up his bow and sword and put them on the table. "I'm a master archer, I've trained in swordsmanship my whole life, and I'm an expert in hand to hand. Though a lot of my training comes from experience, have to keep everyone safe from Grimm and bandits. Oh, and my semblance has saved my ass more times then I can count."

Yang leaned in, becoming more intrigued as he spoke. "What's it do?" She asked as Oliver put his weapons away.

"Basically it allows me to speed up my thought process. I can process info nearly a thousand times faster and more efficiently then the average person when I use it. I've already read the library, that was the first three days I was here." He said.

"The whole library?" She asked in awe. I wasn't sure where she was going with all this, but I was afraid it was going the one direction I didn't want it to.

"Yeah. It doesn't take a whole lot of time if I use it." Oliver said.

"Yang Xia-Long." The waiter called from inside.

Yang looked from me to Oliver. "Hey, can you go get that for me Oliver?" She asked. Oliver nodded and got up to get our order. "Jayden, think Ozpin would let him join our mission?" She asked.

"No! There's no way he's coming with us!" I said slamming my fist on the table.

Yangs eyes turned red as I yelled. "And why not?" She asked, standing up from her seat, obviously not pleased I had yelled at her.

"One, I'd have to tell him I'm an alien. Two, he's only fourteen, this mission would be way to dangerous for him even if he is very skilled. Three, why on earth would Ozpin say yes?" I said. All where valid points, but I couldn't tell her the real reason I didn't want him on. "And why do you want him anyways?" I asked.

Yang sat back down, her eyes turning back from red to lavender. "Because our friends are going to be fighting robots from another galaxy. None of us have ever faced enemies like that and have next to no idea what we are up against. His skills may give us the edge we need to win and, if we're lucky, all make it back home." She said. Make it home, I remembered during the war a private under my masters command, private Sioux, once talked about that. He'd said that clones didn't have a real home. They where technically property of the Kamino cloners and where expected to return back for whatever they had in store for them. My friends had a real home to return to, and as the leader I was expected bring as many back as possible.

I sighed and tightened my headband. "You weren't asking where you?"

Yang crossed her arms. "Not at all."

Oliver came back with our coffee and sat down. Yang and I grabbed our cups and got up. "Oliver we're taking these to go. I got something to tell you."

We walked down the street until we got to the alley behind the police station. I told him everything about what I am, how I got to Remnant, our mission to destroy the ship. "You're full of shit Jayden." He said with a straight face. He took it better then I expected.

I didn't feel like going through the usual process of convincing people so I reached my hand out, lifting him off the ground and turning him upside down. He looked around wildly, trying to figure out what was happening. "So, you're using telekinesis Jayden." He said as he grabbed his arrows so they didn't fall out.

"Yup, and, before you ask, no it's not my semblance, neither is the lightning. It's called the Force." I said, setting him back down.

"Ok, I think I may believe you. Well, I got nothing to do until my tribe comes here in about a year. If you want me I'm in." He said. He was smart, he knew what I was doing wasn't a power native to this world, so of course he was able to put two and two together.

"Shit." I thought, I'd desperately been hoping he wouldn't want in. "Ok," I said. " let's introduce you t the rest of the team.

"This kids going to be joining us?" Weiss said as I introduced Oliver to her and Blake. "Ozpin cant seriously be ok with this!" Weiss said putting her foot down, literally. Ruby was in the Library with Ren and Nora working on history homework so she'd have to wait to meet him. In the mean time I had something much more important to do.

I went to my bed and started rummaging through my bag. "He said I'm in charge so I get to make personnel decisions. Here Oliver take this." I tossed him a gold disk with silver rings. He caught it and started looking. "It's a holo-projecter, something from my galaxy. It's broken, I want you to fix it. Blake, Dr. Oobleck wanted us to help him with something, come."

Before she could protest I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door, down the hall and into a maintenance closet far away from the room. "Jayden what are you doing? Why are your plans sweating? And what about Oobleck?" She asked. I whipped more sweat from my head. This was bad. It was bad for her and Oliver to be in the same area, much less the same room.

"Oh god, this is bad. This is real real bad. Look, Blake, under no circumstances can Oliver know who you are. What you where." She couldn't see, but my eyes where getting wide with fear. She had no idea how much danger she was in.

She looked at me, confusion crossing her face. "Why? She asked.

"Because Blake, the day we met, the woman you killed, that was Oliver's sister." I remembered the moment she did it, as Blakes sword pierced her chest, ending her life in an instant. And filling Oliver with a lust for revenge. "If he finds out you did it, he will try to kill you. You probably won't be able to stop him, and we probably won't be able to save you."


	23. Chapter 23

Authors Notes: I'm so sorry about the long break. I was writing everything on my school issued iPad and since I graduated I had to take a break till I got my own. But, like I said, I graduated! Yay! If anyone is interested I'm going to be studying welding. Also I made a mistake with a characters name a few chapters ago. Oliver's sister isn't named Raz, it's Rosa. I think auto correct messed me up. Sorry about that. Oh I've also started releasing an original story on Fiction Press called Lifeless.

"After his family is killed, a 12 year old is taken in by a man who only goes by Black Beard. Under his tutelage he learns the truth; zombies do walk the earth. Six years later he's become an accomplished slayer in his own right. And while in Seattle he learns of a conspiracy that could lead to an extinction level event."

Go check it out if you can! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 23: Battle on the Star Forge

"Her name was Rosa Glas." I told Blake as she sat on a bucket she'd turned upside down.

"Could you lock the door please?" She said in a hushed voice. I did so, clicking the handle on the door locked. She reached over her head and pulled on the back of her bow. It came undone, revealing the pair of cat ears she so desperately tried to keep hidden. They twitched as she looked up at me. Her purple eye shadow smudged as she rubbed her eyes. "Ok, explain to me how badly I messed up exactly." She asked.

"Like I said, her name was Rosa Glas. She was Oliver's sister, and a very dear friend of mine. I was fourteen, maybe fifteen when we met. She grew up outside the kingdoms like Oliver, but she wasn't a fighter like he is. She never really had it in her though, she hated violence. So eventually she moved to Mistral, near the border so she would be close to her tribe when they went there in the spring like they did every year." My head started pounding and my jaw clenched. I needed to pause, take a minute to keep my self composed.

"I hadn't eaten in nearly a week, nothing that was actually edible anyways. She lived in the country side, there was no one around for miles. I thought she'd left so I broke in and raided her fridge. About a minute later she walked in, apparently shed forgotten something. You know what the first thing she ever said to me was?"

"What?" Blake asked, the tears welling up in her eyes. It kind of reminded me of Oliver that day as I carried Rosa's body into his camp.

"Would you like something to eat?" I said. I was beginning to cry myself. I never talked about any of this. But doing so now, emotions I'd long since been forced to bury worked there way up to the surface. So much for keeping calm. "I broke into her house, started stealing from her, and when she caught me her first reaction was to feed me."

My voice cracked as I spoke. I paused and took a breath, giving Blake a chance to respond. "Why would she do that?" She asked.

"I asked her the same question later that day. I asked why she'd be so kind to someone who broke into her house and tried to steal from her. She said 'I don't see a thief, all I see is a kid who needs a meal.'" I took a breath again. "She offered to let me stay the night, but in the end I stayed with her for a few months. I helped her out around the house, did a few bounties to earn my keep, she was like a sister to me. So when she went to go visit her sick cousin it wasn't even a question if I should go with her to make sure she got there ok."

That sorrow inside of me stopped trying to dig to the surface, and started to boil instead. Sadness became anger, sorrow became hate. The rooms temperature increased sharply as listening started to crack on my arms. An arc jumped from my arm towards Blake causing her to fall off the bucket in shock. She tried to get up, but I didn't give her the room. "You murdered her Blake!" I yelled, no longer caring about how she'd feel. I wanted to make sure Blake knew exactly what she'd done. "You took her away from me, you took her from Oliver, and now, when I have nightmares about the war, I see her dying as well."

I collapsed on the floor and buried my head in my knees. The room cooled and I started sobbing. "It should have been me." I said. "I was supposed to protect her, why didn't you kill me?" I asked, the tears soaking through the bandana and falling down my cheeks.

Blake said down next to me and brought her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry Jayden. I won't legitimize my actions, what I did was evil, it was against everything the White Fang is supposed to stand for." She reached her arm over my shoulder and pulled me in. "But the fact is, you lived Jayden. That wasn't an accident. I don't know why, but you lived for a reason." I stopped crying and looked at her. She gave me a sad smile and continued on. "Because of my sins I'll never get to know her, but from what you've said I don't think she'd want you to cry wishing you'd died in her stead." I couldn't help but laugh. I'd come here to chew her out, instead she was comforting me.

I got up and unlocked the door. "Thanks Blake. I... I needed that. But the fact remains, Oliver can not learn what you did. If he does, he will try to kill you." I said as Blake tied her bow on again.

We left the closet and walked back to our dorm room. "Jayden he's like fourteen, he can't be that strong." She said as she finished tying up her bow.

And she was right, really he was no stronger then the average kid his age. "He's not, but his semblance has made him a tactical genius. He processes info several hundred times faster and more efficiently then anyone else, combined with his experience it makes him incredibly dangerous. Just be careful all right?"

"Got it." Blake said as she nodded. It wasn't even noon yet so we had plenty of time before we met team JNPR for training. When we got to the room Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Oliver were waiting for us.

Oliver cleared the table he'd been working on, I think he got it from a class, and put the Holo- Projector on it. "All right Jayden I think I got it. Pretty easy, some advanced fiber optics combined with 3-d imagery. Think it's good to go."

I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. "Thanks Oliver. Guess it's time to see if it works." I pushed the activation button on the side and watched as the image flickered to life, standing in front of me was a six inch tall image of Master Harthow.

"Hello Jayden," The image of my master said. "If you're watching this then it is as I feared, the Sith have not only returned to the Galaxy, they've succeeded in their plans. I've been forced to send you away in a special ship created by the Jedi, one capable of attaining light speed even beyond the magnetic storm the encompasses our Galaxy. I don't know where you'll end up, but I trust the Force to watch over you." And that was it, his whole, final message to me. I held back the tears. I remembered all the times we spent together. The months in the galactic core leading up to the war were he put me through rigorous mental and physical training. The missions we were sent on during the war. Though our time to get her had been short, he had raised me. He had been like a father to me.

"Wait." Oliver said. "Did you catch that?" He asked as he took the disk from my hand. "There was a slight... tick at the end, I think there may be more to the message but it got corrupted." He started fiddling around with it for a few minutes. "Ok here we are."

More to the message? My mouth hung open. It had always seemed short and that it stopped abruptly, but I always assumed he'd just made it on short notice, but soon it played on past what I'd always assumed was the end.

"I don't know what the Sith are planning exactly, but whatever it is I fear it may be to late to stop. We already knew it's a high ranking member of the senate, and several months ago the ARC Trooper known as Fives went insane, claiming the clones were part of a vast conspiracy to destroy the Jedi. Unfortunately he died before he could be interrogated, and despite volume upon volume of regulation and protocol his claims were never investigated. This was shortly before we where assigned to the Courascant security force." I hadn't known about that. I'd never been told about rouge clones or anything like that.

"From my own investigations, kept hidden from the council and the senate, I fear his claims may be more then the ramblings of a mad man. Jayden, I told we had been assigned to Courascant was to replace the recently fallen master Vandor. But the true reason the reason we were assigned to Courascant was actually to finish his work. So I could help finish the development of the ship, and now it must save you from whatever fate awaits the Order. Mere hours ago the identity of the Sith Lord was confirmed. He is not just a high ranking member of the senate, he is the highest. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, ., Darth Sidious."

Master Harthow bowed his head and sighed. "Jayden, dark times are upon us. But you mustn't be afraid, fear is the path to the dark side. Remember, you are, and forever will be, a Jedi, a guardian of the light. Wherever you go I know you will be a shining beacon of hope to all who look to you. May the Force be with you." And with that, the image flickered and disappeared.

I pressed several buttons taking me to a menu and looked at the time stamp. "He made this barely an hour before the clones attacked." I said. Suddenly I didn't have to fight to hold back the tears. Because they were gone. "Sorry, I need to go talk to someone." I said. Before Yang could stop me I was at the window and jumped up. I landed on the roof with a perfectly executed front flip. I laid down on the roof. He'd come so close to figuring it out, just a day or two earlier and it all could've been avoided.

"Master." I said.

"Yes Jayden?" Qui-Gon said, his voice coming from everywhere but nowhere.

"I'm... Im sorry about how I acted earlier. It was immature and stupid." I said, trying to

find the right words to apologize with.

"It's all right Jayden. Are you ready to talk about it now?" He asked as I sat on the roof. "No, not yet. But I am ready to take my training further. If we're going to destroy the Sep

cruiser with God knows how many droids I'm going to need to be a lot further along then I am now." I had to accept one simple truth, I wasn't strong enough. If we were to fight those droids today I'd be out numbered and I'd be mowed down. But we still had nearly two weeks, if I trained hard enough with my team and I studied under Qui-Gon.

For the first time I could feel Qui-Gon. Not as someone merged with the Force, but someone who exists with but separate of the force. "Your training with force sense has already come along way, you can already make out small details with out use of your eyes. Jayden, the training will not be easy. If you don't give one hundred percent effort you will die." He said.

I stood up and cracked my knuckles. "Well then, guess I better get serious."

The sweat trickled down my forehead only to be soaked in by the bandana. Ren threw another jab at me striking me square in the face knocking me back a few steps. I should have been able to easily block it, especially since Ren was holding back so much. But my new training included hand to hand combat while Qui- Gon made me weigh about an extra hundred pounds. "Would you like to take a break Jayden? You look like you're about to pass out." Ren asked taking a step back.

"Yes. I'd love to take a break." I thought as I regained my balance. All my muscles screamed in agony. My breathing was labored at best, and I was starting to see spots under the bandanna. "No. Five more minutes." I told him as I threw an incredibly slow round house kick.

"If you say so." He said as he dodged my kick, countering with a side kick to my stomach. I started to fall back but quickly turned my body so instead of falling flat on my back I rolled. Using the momentum I was able to get up. But it was all so slow. Qui-Gon was right, if I didn't take this seriously I could very well die from pushing myself to hard.

Five minutes later I was on the floor. The weight had been relieved but I found my self too exhausted to move. Everyone else had cleaned up and left to go to dinner, but I just couldn't move. Using all my energy, I managed to pathetically roll out of the middle of the floor and drag my self into the bleachers. "And I thought... That gang... I beat up with Sun... Was a pain." I said to my self.

The doors to the arena opened. Being unable to move to see who it was I reached out with the force to see who it was. The person in question was Oliver. As with everyone Remnant I saw the color and manifestation of his aura, a pure, emerald, green glow. I was about to attempt to speak to him when suddenly he began talking. "Did you find anything out about the Faunus?" He asked. I sensed no one else so I assumed he was speaking on a phone. My heart skipped a beat as I realized what he was talking about. "So it's a woman." He said. "But you didn't get a name? No, that's all right." There was a beep followed by him walking back towards the way he'd come in.

I managed to swing my self up, panting like I'd just run a mile. "Oliver. You're not doing what I think you're doing are you?" I asked him. I didn't need to to. It was obvious he'd hired someone to get info on Blake.

He turned around startled. He hated being snuck up on. "Jayden, I didn't realize you were here." He said.

"Don't change the subject." I told him. "I thought you're dad and I made it clear you weren't supposed to go looking for your sisters murderer." I said, careful not say anything that may imply I know something. After I brought Rosa's body to the camp I spoke with her father. We agreed if Oliver looked for vengeance like he wanted to it would lead him down a path he wouldn't be able to return from.

He walked towards me. He was wearing street clothes, just a regular green t-shirt and jeans with his sword strapped to his back. "And why not? If I find her I can kill her. I can get justice!" He said, his voice raising to near scream.

"Vengeance. Not justice." I corrected. "Vengeance does nothing but serve your own selfish wants and desires. We've both seen how that works in the movies." I told him.

"Oh and like you've never wanted revenge!" He yelled. His eyes started glowing green, similar to how Yangs started glowing red when she was mad. He closed his eyes and took a breath trying to calm himself. "That man, your master. He was killed, right? Who did it?" He asked.

The feeling returned to my legs so I got up and walked towards him. "A man named Anakin Skywalker. I think he's going by Darth Vader these days." I told him.

"And if he walked in that door right now, wouldn't you try to kill him to?" He asked.

"What? No!" I replied. The response was automatic. That's not who I was anymore. At least, it's not who I wanted to be.

Oliver seemed to sense my doubt. "Exactly." He said, walking out of the arena.

Qui- Gong's presence appeared seconds later. "Well Jayden." Qui-Gon said. "That didn't go exactly how you planned."

I laid back on the bleacher. "He's right you know." I told him. After thinking about it for a few seconds I think I had a different answer to Oliver's question. "If Anakin walked in here right now I'd probably lose it." I said. "And why shouldn't I? He betrayed the order, killed my master, and brought an era of darkness to the republic. If anything I'd be doing the universe a favor." I declared.

Qui-Gon was quiet for a moment. "Jayden, there's something I'd like to show you. A vision from the past, I'll require your abilities." He told me.

I sat up and assumed a meditative stance. "Last time I used force flow I was nearly lost in the flow of time until Palpatine sensed me and gave me a heart attack. You sure this is safe?" I asked him. He was my master, if he told me to do it I'd do it. Didn't mean I wouldn't have my doubts.

"Do not worry. I will be able to guide you." Qui-Gon said.

"Ok." I said as I let my self travel through the flow of the living force.

After a few seconds I found my self traveling through some sort of black ether. I had no idea where to go. "Jayden." I heard coming distantly from my left. I found myself drifting towards the voice until I found light. I stepped out into what looked like an expansive factory.

I looked off the cat walk I was standing on only to see what appeared like an endless void that was constantly spewing ship after ship from seemingly no where. The sounds of a battle came from the distance. "Welcome to the Star Forge."

I turned around to see a man in traditional Jedi robes. He had shoulder length brown hair with a machining beard. I'd never seen him before, but I knew exactly who's voice that was. "Master Qui- Gon. So I finally get to see you." I said.

He walked towards me and looked out towards the endless abyss. "Yes Jayden. While using your force flow you exist in a state similar to my own. This makes it so I can appear to you in a visible form."

As he said it alarms started blaring. "The Republic has broken through our defenses! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" A voice yelled through the comm system.

"Uh, when are we?" I asked as he began walking down the cat walk. Within seconds the hall was filled with crew. Many wearing dark robes with light sabers in hands. "Are those... Dark Jedi?" I asked. I'd heard of a few dark Jedi appearing during the war, such as the assassin Asajj Ventress, but there were so many here I knew it had to be before then.

"Yes Jayden." Qui-Gon said not missing a step. "We are currently three thousand nine hundred fifty six years in the past. At the end of the great Jedi Civil War."

Suddenly one of the crew members, some sort of pilot, ran through me. My nerves flared as a coldness crept over me. I collapsed on the floor shivering. You'd think he was the ghost, the way it left me chilled to the bone. "Well that was interesting. And the Jedi Civil war? Wait, if this is the Star Forge. That means..."

Before I could finish Qui- Gon smiled and nodded. "Yes. We are about to witness the duel between Revan and Darth Malak."

I must have grinned like a little kid. I grew up on stories of Revan. His battles during the Mandalorian wars, his campaign as dark lord of the Sith, and his eventual return to the light. It was enough to get me through wave after wave of people running through me, all leaving me chilled to the bone. But it didn't matter, I was about to see one of the greatest warriors that ever lived.

We came to a closed door, but being in spiritual forms we were able to simply walk through. It looked like some sort of control center. Standing in front of a large holo projection of the ensuing battle out side was a woman dressed in black robes meditating on the floor. Beside her stood a man in an old republic military uniform. "Bastilia we've got to go now!" He said. Suddenly it dawned on me who they were. "Wait, that's Bastilia Shawn." I said, remembering the role shed played in the battle. " Then that must be Carth Onasi." I said

"No." She said. "I have to keep using my battle meditation to ensure the Republic destroys the Star Forge."

The door opened allowing several Dark Jedi in. "Get down!" A man in Mandalorian armor yelled as Carth grabbed Bastila and dropped to the floor. He mowed them down with a blaster before they could even light their sabers. "Mission just called. The Ebon Hawk is ready to go as soon as they get the word."

Carth got up. "Damn it you heard Canderous, the ship is ready to go and if we don't go now then we may never leave!" He yelled as the station began to rock.

"Not until Revan returns!" She yelled, her meditation breaking for a split second.

Qui- Gon moved on and motioned me to follow. "Come young one. We have something to see." He told me. I followed behind as we left the room and came to a long hall way. We walked for several minutes. The dark side emanated from everywhere; the walls, floors, ceiling, it was almost as if the light had no presence here. It begged me to open up to it, to surrender myself to its will and power.

I trudged on, wishing the dark side had a face so I could slap it. We came to another door. From just beyond it I could here the clash of light sabers. "They're in there aren't they?" I asked.

Qui- Gon nodded and stepped through. I followed suit and looked upon one of the most pivotal events in history.

Sabers clashed in a flurry of red and blue. Malak ferociously trying to over power Revan who was taking a defensive stance. Revan looked calm, he quickly analyzed and countered each of Malak's strikes.

In terms of power Malak was obviously superior. He was able to draw on the dark side emanating from all around them, supplementing the power he drew from his own hate and anger. But Revan was a legendary tactician. He was patient, allowing Malak to get angrier and more aggressive, waiting for him to slip up. Malak brought his saber down in a powerful slash aimed at Revans head. Revan ducked and rolled to his side prompting Malak to redirect his strike to Revans neck. He blocked Malak's strike with his saber and reached his hand out, pushing Malak back slightly. Malak did little more then stumble, but it was all Revan needed.

In one swift movement he adjusted the angle of his light saber and stabbed Malak just above the stomach. His eyes wide in horror, Malak fell to the floor on one knee. "Im..impossible." He said. "I... I can not be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Revan deactivated his light saber and looked upon his old friend. I could feel what he felt. Pain in losing his friend, sorrow in being the one to end his life, regret in leading him down that path in the first place. "This is the way of the dark side Malak, all things end in death." He told him.

If it weren't for the mechanical jaw Malak might just have been smiling as he realized the truth in his old friends words. "Still spouting the wisdom of the Jedi I see. Maybe their is more truth in their code then I ever believed. I... I cannot help but wonder, Revan. What would have have happened had our positions been reversed? What if fate decreed I would be captured by the Jedi? Could I have returned to the light as you did? If you had not led me down the dark path in the first place, what destiny would I have found?" The life was fading from Malak quickly, he was just barely hanging on.

Revan clipped his saber to his belt and turned around towards us and the door. "I am sorry I started you on this path. But you choose to continue down it."

"I suppose... I suppose you speak the truth." Sadness and regret flooded Malak's raspy, mechanical voice. The inevitability of it all consuming him. "I alone must accept responsibility for my fate. I wanted to be Master of the Sith and ruler of the Galaxy. But that destiny was not mine Revan. It might have been yours, perhaps, but never mine. And in the end, as the darkness takes me, I am nothing." With those words Darth Malak, one of the most vile Sith Lords to walk the Galaxy, became one with the force.

Revan sighed. It was done. He walked through me. I braced myself, only to realize I wasn't cold. In fact it was oddly warm. The scene changed, the Star Forge and its oppressive atmosphere were gone. I looked around, I was in a circular room I didn't recognize, surrounded by a dozen or so chairs. I looked out a window and immediately recognized the city scape. "Courascant." I said. The sun was beginning to set, leaving a faint, orange glow across the city as millions of speeders flew by at all altitudes.

Qui- Gon took a seat in one of the chairs. "Welcome to the Jedi council chamber Jayden." He said as I took a seat next to him.

"Haven't been here for a while." I said.

"Feeling home sick?" He asked.

"Nah, now when are we?" I asked as I sat in a chair next to him.

"Ten years prior to the Clone Wars. Just a few minutes after I spoke with the council of my mission to Naboo and presented Anakin to the council to be accepted into the order." Qui-Gon said.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Yeah, and how'd that work out for you?" I asked.

Qui-Gon merely shrugged his shoulders at my remark. "Jayden, I may not know why, but it was the will of the force that had me bring Anakin here, it was the will of the force that he became a Jedi."

"Then why did he fall?" I asked.

"Because he chose to pursue his own selfish wants over the needs of others. IMuch like Malak. And like Malak, there is still hope for him." Qui-Gon stood up and left the chamber. I followed behind him until we came to a veranda not far away from the chamber. "Malak was able to see the error of his ways. And, even if it was in his final moments, he once again found the light." He put his hand on my shoulder and looked out to the city. "Jayden, for a long time you have drawn on the dark side instinctively. It allowed you to survive, but has brought so close to the edge. The only thing keeping you on the path of light so far has been you will, and the memory of your Master. But you must not seek vengeance. On anyone."

I was shocked at what I was hearing, though I knew I shouldn't be. After all, force Lightning was, by its very nature, anger given physical form. And I used it all the time. I hated to admit it, but he was right. I'd come to give my emotions to much power. "Their is no emotion, only peace." I said. Reciting the first part of the Jedi code.

Qui- Gon seemed interested in my choice of words. "I disagree Jayden. I don't think we should allow ourselves to be devoid of emotions. That is not what leads to the dark side."

I looked at Qui-Gon confused. "But master, isn't that what lead Malak, Revan, and Anakin to the Dark Side? Hell, it was because he loved Padme Anakin fell." I asked, finding myself truly interested in what he was saying.

"Their lack of control is what led them to fall." He said. "Anakin didn't control his love, letting it blind him to truth. Tell me, do you know the original version of the Jedi Code?" He asked.

I simply shook my head silently. He nodded and began to recite a version of the mantra I was unfamiliar with. "Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the force." He said.

He left the veranda and began walking through the temple halls. Perhaps he was feeling as nostalgic as I was. "The Sith fuel their power with emotions. Anger, hate, all of those. Yet in the end they allow themselves to be controlled by it. The Jedi believed that one must forgo emotions, that it was the only way to be able to make logical decisions. But it blinded us to the truth that was right in front of us."

Hundreds of Jedi walked passed us, entirely unaware of our presence. It was unsettling, like I was an intruder. "So which way is right?" I asked as we came to the temple archives.

Qui- Gon looked at the rows of data disks as if he where looking for a book to check out. Of course he couldn't, seeing as how we were in the past and he was dead. "Neither. Yet both." He said as he stopped in front of one of the busts. The busts of the twenty Jedi masters who had left the order.

I sighed as I read the plaque on the bust. "Your not going to make this easy for me are you?" I asked. My eyes widened as I realized who it was a bust of. "Count Dooku." I whispered.

"Yes Jayden. My master before me." He said as he bowed his head slightly. "And no, I'm not trying to make it difficult, this is merely a difficult subject. Let's go back to the first line of the code; Emotion, yet peace. You see, Revan had the unique status of mastering both the light and the dark side. From this he created an entirely new philosophy that combined both teachings."

"Well this should be interesting." I said as we left the archives. "Do tell."

Master Qui- Gon led me down another hallway that brought us to the temple hangar. "As I said, the Sith feed their power by drawing on negative emotions. Hate, anger, etc. Well, Revan had devised a new method of feeding power. Instead of emotions like those he would draw on emotions such as joy and love."

I was shocked to hear him saying that. Even after ten years I knew the order wouldn't like what he was saying. "You realize what your saying is straight up heresy, right?" Not that it mattered much to me.

Qui- Gon stroked his beard. "Yes, I suppose it is. But let me ask you, is it wrong?"

I gave a limp shrug. "To hell if I know." I told him.

"Would you like to know what Yoda told me just after the order fell?" I asked.

"Master Yoda survived? Is he still alive?" I asked, honestly surprised.

Qui-Gon nodded. "Yes. He is hiding on a planet with a very strong presence in the force to hide his own. Forgive me but for his safety I can't tell you were."

I thought back to the couple of visions I had. "No, I understand. What did he tell you by the way?" I asked.

"Trained the order as my masters trained me, I did. The Force changed, the Galaxy changed, and the Sith changed, but remained the same, and stagnate, we did." Qui- Gon said. "That is why the order fell. We failed to see the force as a living entity. Perhaps he was ahead of his time, but Revan was right. And if you can learn to draw on love, you'll be more powerful then any Jedi here." He said waving his hands.

Love. From a young age Jedi were taught this was dangerous, that it was full of emotions that could lead us to the dark side, like Anakin. But if what Qui-Gon said was true, then it wasn't love it self that led to the dark side, but not being taught to control it. Meaning everything I'd been taught as a kid was wrong. "You know, even after I came to Remnant I never gave love much thought. Had more important things to worry about." I said.

Qui- Gon granted my shoulder. "Love and compassion show us the reasons why we fight Jayden. To defend." I thought on what he said as the hangar doors opened.

I turned around to see who was coming in. He was younger. His hair was only beginning to grey and he didn't carry the weight of his years yet. But I knew the man walking towards us was Jedi Master Harthow Daya. Following shortly behind was a young, green skinned Rodian just a little younger then I was. "Wow. I haven't seen Jax since he went MIA in the war."

"This mission isn't ordained by the council, is it master?" Jax asked in his native tongue.

Master Harthow slapped him in the back and laughed. "Of course not. You think they'd green light a mission like this?"

Jax sighed and rubbed his temple. "Your going to get us expelled from the order one of these days. So what's the mission again?" Jax asked.

"I told you, I had a vision of my friend Qui-Gon in a fight on Naboo. He needs help so that's what we'll do."

"But if the council won't approve then why are we going?" Jax said as the door to their ship opened.

"We serve the force, not the council. The force showed me the vision, we must act on it." Harthow said as they stepped in.

My heart sank as I came to the realization that everyone of these people would be dead in a few years. Some in the war, others in the ensuing Jedi purge, but all save a small handful would die. "Actually Qui- Gon. I think I am feeling a little home sick." I smiled at him. "Let's go home."

Qui-Gon nodded. "You're beginning to understand Jayden."

I woke up and checked the time. I was only out for about six minutes this time. I saw Pyrrha walking up to the bleachers. "Hello Jayden." She said as she walked up to me. "Yang said you hadn't come back to the room and sent me to check in on you."

I moved my braid out of my face and stood up. "Thanks. But why didn't she come?" I asked as I jumped over the side.

She put her hand on her hip and sighed. "She's a little upset with you, remember?" She said.

"No, I don't remember. What'd I do?" I asked surprised.

"You really don't know do you?" Pyrrha asked dropping her hand.

"Know what?" I asked.

Pyrrha laughed a little and started pulling me by my hand. "Jayden, I think we need to have a talk."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Lord of Pain

"So we're agreed? We'll work on professor Ports project together?" Pyrrha asked as she, Auburn, a girl who had Monster class with us, and I sat down with our lunches.

Other students sat down around us as we talked about the project Port had given us about how to most efficiently kill Grimm. "Sure. But will Jayden be able to help with that thing on his eyes?" Auburn asked as brushed a stand of her brown hair out of her eyes. "Seriously, what's up with that?"

I opened my soda and adjusted my tie. "It's for training. It's also not the worst thing I've worn today. And yes, I know plenty about Grimm anatomy to help write a report. Don't need my eyes to do that." I said as I started eating my food.

Auburn started eating her own food. "Yes you do need your eyes to type." She said as she pointed her fork at mr. "And why aren't you working with Yang? You two usually do everything together." She said reaching into her bag and pulled out he bladed fan and started fanning her self. "Also why is it so hot in here?"

I choked on my food a bit. It'd been a few days since Pyrrha told me how Yang felt. I couldn't believe I never realized, I'm supposed to be more observant than that, but I never really gave romantic pursuits much thought before so I guess I didn't notice. I only just noticed yang had a tendency to glance my way during class. Something I should have noticed along time ago We hadn't done more then talk about the weather lately."Yeah, things are... Awkward between us right now." I told Auburn.

She finished her food and threw the trash away."Well at least you two are doing something finally. Sucks though, I owe Geoff five Lien cause I said it'd be at least until the dance you guys did it. Either ways, get the research done by Friday, I'll head to the library and do my research." Auburn said putting her fan back in her back pack. "Later guys." Auburn said leaving us.

Pyrrha put her food in the trash and took out her scroll. She went through the list of Grimm we had to do our report. "We need to write about the Nevermore, Boarbatusk, and Beowolf. Auburn has the Boarbatusk which one do you want?" She asked.

I thought for a moment and shrugged my shoulders. "I'll take he Beowolf, I've fought more of those, that ok with you?" I said as I looked at the time. Ten minutes till our next class. "Crap, I gotta go get changed for sparring next period."

"Ok, but before you go, when are you going to do something about Yang?" Pyrrha asked as she put her scroll away.

I scratched my head. I really wasn't sure what I would do. At the very least Yang deserved an answer. "Uh, later. Yeah, I'll do something later." I told Pyrrha hoping she'd drop it.

She rolled her eyes and rested her head on her hand. "Jayden, do you like her?" She asked me.

My heart started pounding. I could feel my temperature rising as flames sparked on my fingers. I quickly hid them under the table so no one saw. "Well, I don't not like her." I said trying to calm down before more of me spontaneously combusted. I really needed to get the whole "bursting into flame and lightning when I'm upset" thing under control.

Pyrrha nodded. "Well, you need to tell her." She told me as we got up to leave.

"I know." I told her. "But it's not easy. You should be able to sympathize with that."

She looked at me confused. "What do you mean Jayden?" She asked stopping in front of her locker. The color in her cheeks rose so she obviously understood what I was saying.

I started laughing. I wasn't trying to be mean but it was funny. "It's pretty obvious you like Jaune , Pyrrha." I told her.

She looked around quickly trying to see if anyone heard. "Is it really that obvious?" She asked. I could sense her hear speeding up and her mind being flooded with emotion. "Does he know?"

"No. Jaune's too dense to figure out the girl who lives three feet away from him likes him." I told her as I continued a few lockers down. "Though, I guess that puts me on his level." I said as we reached my locker. I grabbed my sword and clothes. I double checked and felt my light saber hidden in my shirt.

Pyrrha groaned and opened her own locker taking out her equipment. "I really don't want to talk about this. What about that dust crystal you bought? What's that supposed to do?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"Honestly I don't know. I'm hoping it'll give it some sort of power boost but it's all guess work right now. I'm planning on altering my saber hilt to." We headed down the hall more till we came to the locker rooms.

Pyrrha stopped before I went I. "How so?" She asked.

I looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I'm planning on getting rid of the tonfa handle, I never use it anymore so it's just dead weight. I'm also planning on adding a fingerprint scanner for activation instead of button, that way it can't be used by others even if it's stolen. See you in a few." I told her as I entered the locker room. A few minutes later I walked into the auditorium for combat practice.

I joined the team on the bleachers and sat between Ruby and Weiss. "Hey. You guys see Oliver?" I asked. I hadn't seen him since the morning and knowing him he'd already gotten into trouble.

Ruby finished loading Crescent Rose and pointed to the arena. "Right there. Apparently Ozpin gave him permission to participate in combat practice today." The screens over the arena lit up showing the faces of Nora and Oliver.

"Oh dear lord please help us." I said as the two walked onto the fighting pad. I could only imagine the chaos those two could cause. "Ok I'm moving back a seat. Why the hell would they put those two together?"

Weiss shrugged her shoulder and leaned back in the bleacher. "What does it matter? It's just Nora and Oliver." She said. Yang, Blake, Ruby, and I stared at her in unison as she buried her head in her hands. "Literally as soon as I said that I realized my mistake."

The buzzer sounded signaling the start of the fight. Nora laughed as she fired off several grenades at Oliver who dodged each shot with ease. He fired several arrows at her. She smashed them out of the way with her hammer. One barely slipped by and struck her in the shoulder. It must have been an electric arrow because Nora started having muscle spasms. Oliver rushed her and smashed his bow into Nora's rib cage.

Nora countered but I didn't notice. My eyes where focused on the back of Yangs head. I couldn't help but think about what Qui-Gon and Pyrrha had told me. What I had told Pyrrha earlier was true. I didn't not like Yang, but I wasn't sure if I liked her like that. She was a good person. She was strong and brave. Few people could hold themselves in a fight as well as she could. She was also the most beautiful person I'd ever met, I'd never given it much thought by now that I did it was captivating. But more than that when I was with her things just felt right. It was like we had some sort of bond.

The fight ended. I'm not sure who won but a section of bleachers where broke and three students where sent to the infirmary. "Well students, unfortunately I'm going to have to end class early. It seems Mr. Glas and Mrs. Valkyrie where a little much for the arena to handle. Please be prepared for the trip to collect the sap tomorrow." Professor Goodwitch said as she began to assess the damage.

We got up and left. "Crap. I was hoping to fight today." Yang said as we walked into the hall. The others had gone ahead to see if Oliver and Nora where ok leaving the two of us alone.

I shifted awkwardly as we headed back to our room. "Maybe we can spar later. Been awhile." I said trying to keep things from getting awkward.

Yang smiled and my heart skipped a beat. Seeing her do that made me happy for some reason. "Yeah. That'd be fun. You got any plans for the rest of the day?" She asked.

I was about to tell her I was going to the library for research when suddenly an image flashed in my mind. A field just a mile away from the school near the forest. In that field there was a rock, it called to me, yearned for me to go to it. "I think I got a new training assignment. I'll catch you later."

Yangs shoulders dropped and she sighed. "Ok. See you when you get back." She said.

Wasting no time I left for the field. About thirty minutes later I arrived. "Hello? Anyone there?" I yelled as I looked around. The sun was beginning to set leaving a faint yellow glow across the land scape. I found the rock and sat on it. "Qui-Gon? You there?"

"Meditate Jayden. There is much for you to learn today." That was all he told me.

I did as I was told and began meditating. Soon I found my self on a snowy cliff, it was dark and the shattered field of the moon was clearly visible. "Wait, I've been here." I said as I looked around. I'd been here years ago when I was about nine. I looked around for the grave I'd seen last time. It was behind me. I walked up to it and brushed snow off the face. "Summer Rose." I whispered. I slept here that night, I'd been wandering for days and was near exhaustion. It was fall and a pile of leaves where on the ground just in front of the head stone. It was as good a place as any so I slept there. I remember thinking it was a beautiful name.

"Jayden." Qui-Gon said. "This may very well be your most dangerous test you have faced yet. This environment is a mental construct you subconsciously chose. You your self are in a similar state. But any injuries you sustain here will affect your physical body. If you die in here, you die physically as well."

I only just realized my sword and blind fold where gone. I reached for my belt and found my light saber clipped there. I grabbed and lit it. My heart was racing. My most dangerous test yet? That was saying a lot. "What am I facing master?"

A minute passed, all I could feel was the snow biting at my face. The only sound I heard was the howling of the wind and the hum of my saber. The fear was gripping my heart. Sweat was starting to drip din my face, I wanted to scream. "You must defeat the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sion, in battle."

A chill ran down my spine leaving me cold inside. I turned around just In time to hold my saber over my head as a crimson light saber crashed down on to it. The sound was one I hadn't heard in years, the sound of two light sabers clashing together.

The man in front of me was undoubtedly the dark lord Qui-Gon had said he was, Darth Sion, Lord of Pain. This test was suicide, Sion was master of ancient Sith sorcery that made him effectively Immortal. It wasn't until Grandmaster Metra Surik made him want to become one with the force that he finally died.

The only thing holding his body together was dark side energy. His gray flesh was cracked and decayed, one of his eyes was milky white implying blindness in it, I could tell that even the slightest movement caused him intense pain. His only clothes where pitch black pants tucked into matching boots. This test was certain death, there was no way I could defeat him. I was about to jump back when his foot came up and kicked me in the stomach. I lurched forward and fell to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me and I gasped for air before coughing up blood. "Stand and fight boy." Sion said. His voice was deep and echoey. He reached his hand out over me and released red arcs of lightning from his hands striking me in the chest.

I let out a scream that sounded like it belonged to a dying animal. He paused for a moment giving me a chance to leap out of the way. "Don't suppose asking nicely will get you to stop?" I said jokingly trying to hide how terrified I was. I remembered back to the day the temple fell, the moment Vader struck my master down. I could tell Sion was far, far, more powerful than him. My breathing was labored and my heart erratic. I thought when Palpatine struck me with lightning it was bad, I realized it was nothing compared to this. What he hit me with was far less painful, almost muffled. A side effect of sending my spirit back in time.

I lit my palm and sent a blast of fire almost as big as I was towards him. Sion merely lifted his palm and deflected the ball of fire to the side. "You've learned much from wandering through the dark side. Do not deny that you have done so, It flows through you as water through a stream." He said throwing his light saber at me. I rolled out of the way and sent a telekinetic blast towards Sion. He jumped in the air, his light saber flew to his hand leaving a trail of red in its wake.

"Yeah, trying to work on the whole dark side thing." I said rushing him.

As he fell I raised my light saber and stabbed him in the chest. He landed causing snow to jump up splashing me in the chest. He grabbed my throat and lifted me three feet off the ground. "You think you have a choice? You think you came across your powers on your own by accident?" He threw me to the ground near the cliff side. I stopped just short of the cliff. A few more inches and I'd've fallen over. He reached into his chest and pulled out my light saber and threw it over the cliff. Now I was cornered and weaponless. He slowly began walking towards me. He brandished his saber to the side, it shone brightly against the shattered pieces of the moon. "Do not mistake the gifts of your heredity for your own skill." He said as he raised his saber over my head.

I should have been wondering what he meant by that, but all I could think about was that if I died here I'd never see my friends again. I'd never see Ruby, or Blake or Weiss. I'd never see team JNPR again. If I didn't make it out of here they would die at the hands of the Separatists. Memories began to flood my mind. The times I enjoyed in class with them, the bounty mission I went on with Blake and Weiss. But more then that, if I died here I'd never see Yang again.

Her image filled my head, her beautiful hair and smile. Suddenly I saw a vision. I looked at myself, I was older. The wound I'd received from Skadu had long since turned into a scar, my braid was gone and my light saber and sword where sitting next to me I was sitting on a pier meditating. I looked around, I think I was on the island of Patch. I was just sitting there waiting for something. "Morning Jay. Meditating before sunrise again?" The older me opened his eyes and turned around. Yang stood behind us. She to was older, she was wearing a cream colored jacket over a black shirt with matching pants. Her emblem was printed in her left pant thigh. "Same as every morning honey. How was the mission?" The older me asked as he got up and walked up to her.

Yang leaned in and hugged him. Her head rested gently on his shoulder. My heart was racing as I realized that it was me she was doing that to. "Good. Just some population control in the east." Suddenly she jerked her head up and grabbed his shoulder. "Wait, if you're here who's watching Huang?" She asked. Her tone was serious and her eyes turned red.

The older me stepped back and rubbed the back of his head. "He's at home asleep. What else would he be doing?"

"You left our seven year old son home alone on the other side of the island?" Yang yelled.

"So? When I was his age I was fighting on the front lines of a war. I'm sure he's fine."

"He's not like you!" Yang yelled as her fist flew towards the older me's face. He flicked his finger and in an instant the sword flew out of it's scabbard and into his hand. In an instant He blocked Yangs fist out of the way with the flat of his sword. It looked different then my old one. It had a faint, metallic blue hue to it. And near the guard, etched into the metal, was what appeared to be a daffodil.

They dropped there arms and Yangs eyes went back to their usual violet. "Nor should he be. He will be fine because of who he is. Have faith." They leaned in and just before there lips made contact I was back on the snowy cliff with Sion's blade near my throat.

It hovered centimeters from my skin. Steam rose off it as snow flakes fell onto the crimson blade. " I see. The blonde one wanders through your mind, just as The Exile wanders through mine."

He seemed more interested in my vision than killing me at the moment so I decided to try and milk it. "What do you mean 'she wanders through my mind'?" I asked as I assessed my options. It was harder than it should have been because I was thinking of the vision. I don't need to kill him, just beat him in a fight.

"She clouds your judgement. Prevents you from seeing clearly. You could have escaped this easily if she did not." Sion said as he raised his saber over his head. "Now you join your master in the force."

In an instant as the blade fell I came to a realization. My feelings for Yang would strengthen me, but only if I controlled those emotions, not the other way around. Suddenly things became clear. I had to get back to Yang, in order to do that I had to survive here, that meant putting those feelings aside and focus on what was in front of me. "Some day," I quickly reached my hand out and grabbed his saber with the force. "But not today." I ripped it from his hand and threw the ancient weapon off the cliff to join my own. I thrust my other hand out and force pushed him towards the forest behind us.

I leapt towards him and brought my foot down on his shoulder but he knocked it out of the way causing me to spin in mid air. Using the force I stabilized myself and barely dodged his fist as he tried to punch my head clean off. I launched a smaller fireball at his chest forcing him to move back. He shot lightning at me forcing me to jump to the side. It got the side of chest as I landed. I looked around quickly trying to come up with a plan. Suddenly I remembered a battle from the Great War that might be able to help. "Your master was foolish to pit you against me, no Jedi could hope to beat me in combat!"

I dug my feet into the ground and prepared to launch the suicide plan I came up with. "A simple Jedi might not be able to." I said as I began to run. Snow was kicked up by the sheer speed as I raced towards Sion. I started building pressure in my left hand, electricity started cracking in my palm as the pressure built. I thought my hand would burst from the sheer, raw energy I was trying to store. Even so I worked through the pain and pushed on. "But what about a Huntsman!" I quickly did a baseball slide between his legs and spun my self so I was facing him. Before he could turn around I released the energy and sent him flying towards the cliff. For a brief second I thought it was over. Falling thousands of feet off a cliff wouldn't kill him, but it would certainly count as a win. But something seemed off. My chest tightened and my eyes widened as I realized I hadn't stunned him enough. He began using the force to slow down so he would land just short of falling over. I ran across the clearing. "Oh hell no, I'm not doing this again!" I yelled as I gained speed.

Sion landed near the cliff and turned his head towards me. I put all the energy I could into my legs and shoulder and sped up. Sweat started pouring down my face as I finished the last few feet. I twisted my torso and rammed into him with my shoulder knocking him off balance. I shifted my body again. "Have a nice fall." I punched him in the stomach finally setting him over the edge. I shook my head in disgust. "Oh god. I can't believe I actually said that."

Suddenly I woke up in the field, the sun had set and the moon was high in the sky. I fell off the rock and rolled over. My side was killing me from where Sion had shocked me with lightning and my whole body felt like a bruise. I wiped the blood that dribbled from the corner of my mouth away. "Ok. Qui-Gon, the hell was that for?!" I yelled as I got back up.

"I needed to push you to the limits Jayden. To force you to the edge. If you want to use your love to fuel your powers you must learn to control those feelings, lest they control and twist you." His deep voice said filling the field. "I'm sorry I had to use such a harsh method but I needed to be sure you would learn what you needed to, but I knew you would make it."

I wanted to talk to him more about the lesson he wanted me to learn, but what Sion had said earlier was stuck in my head. I needed to talk about it, but not with Qui-Gon. "I see. Ok, I need to get back to the dorm, school tomorrow." Before he could respond I left.

I kept repeating what Sion said in my head. "Don't mistake the gifts of my heredity for my own skill? What did he mean by that? I never thought about my family much before. All I knew was what Master Harthow told me, that my dad was a mechanic for the mines on Crystophsis and my mom was a house wife, not exactly the pinnacle of evil. Though I didn't know anything past that. But something told me Qui-Gon did.

By the time I got to the room it was already dark. I opened the door as quietly as I could In case the girls where already asleep. The lights where off so obviously they where. "Yang? You asleep?" I whispered as I approached the window.

She rolled over and poked her head off the side of her poorly constructed bunk bed and groaned. "I was. What's up? How was training?" She asked. I didn't want to risk waking the others up so I just asked her to meet me on the roof. "Ugh ok. Give me a minute to want to do things."

I opened the window and jumped onto the roof followed by yang a few minutes later. Yang sat down next to me and yawned. "You're concerned. About what?" She said. It was nice, being abler to talk to her like this. The vision earlier was still fresh in my mind. Was that my future, or just what I wanted it to be.

Regardless, that's not why I needed to talk to her. "My training session earlier, my master had me fight an ancient spirit." I told her.

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "That actually sounds normal for you Jayden. What's wrong with it?"

"The spirit, an ancient Sith Lord, he said something to me. He said the way came across a lot of my powers, it wasn't in the usual way. He said... He said it has to do with my heritage." I told her. "I don't know what he meant by that."

"I don't think it matters." Yang said as she ran her hand through her hair.

"I can't help but feel that it does. Yang, I think there's something Qui-Gon's not telling me." I said. I needed to know what, i wasn't sure I could trust him otherwise. But I needed to trust him. It's the only way we'd make it out of the mission alive.

Yang whacked me on the back of the head. "If he is then he has to have a reason for it. I don't know what that reason is but acting without inking isn't going to help." She said.

"You rush head first into fights all the time." I retorted.

"Yeah, but I've always got a plan. I never go in without thinking, not anymore." She seemed saddened by something but it seemed best not to pry.

I found myself laughing at what she was saying. I never expected this kind of advice from her. Guess I still had a lot to learn about her. A moment passed and I shifted uncomfortably. I knew now was the right time to talk to her about "that", but I wasn't sure how to go about it. "Hey Yang, Pyrrha told me that you like me." I blurted out.

Yang jerked her head my way but relaxed. "So you know." Was all she said.

I sighed. This was going to get really weird. "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't notice. It's just..."

Before I could finish Yang interrupted me. "Don't worry about it. I didn't tell you so I can't get mad you didn't figure it out." She said.

My heart was racing. I took some deep breaths to calm down. I noticed her hair seemed to glow in the silver moon light, her silhouette standing out against its backdrop. "I know. It's just, the reason I never noticed is because Jedi are strictly forbidden from falling in love. "

In that moment I felt her heart shatter. "Oh." She said as the pieces feel,deeper and deeper into despair. A single tear began to fell down her cheek, a prologue to the downpour to come. I could tell what I said caused her unimaginable pain.

Quickly I continued my sentence. "But I think it's obvious I'm not a Jedi. At least not in the traditional sense, not anymore. So I was wondering, after the mission you want to go see a movie? I hear that new Spruce Willis movie is really good."

Suddenly her despair turned to joy and the tears that had been welling in her eyes stopped. "Sure Jayden. And next time, don't be so dramatic about it." She said. I don't care how I did it, I'm just glad I did. Now I could focus solely on the mission at hand. And something told me it was going to be a lot more interesting.


	25. Chapter 25

Authors Notes: Hello everybody. Finally the new chapter is finished. I'm going to begin experimenting with a new POV, so have fun with that, hope you enjoy it. As always PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS!

Chapter 25: The Dust Saber

Visions are a funny thing. As a Miraluka my master was very adept with them, it's part of how he was able to fight so well. He told me once that it requires a clear mind to be able to see the future, even more so to utilize it in the middle of combat. I guess that's why I've never had any before coming to Beacon, I was always more concerned with surviving the present than what's in the future.

The one I was having at that moment was very interesting. And by interesting, I mean damn near incomprehensible. It wasn't a solid sequence like the couple of visions I'd had before, it was seemed like it was a flash of clips from a single whole. I saw what looked like a ship crashing nose first into a large space station, a man with twin blue light sabers and short brown hair leading men into battle against soldiers wearing armor similar to clone armor. But the one that stood out the most was of me, wearing traditional Jedi robes, holding Darth Vader at saber point as he lay defeated on the ground.

Before I could delve any further my train of thought was broken. "You know you do have a bed now Jayden, you don't need to sleep outside." I snapped awake and groaned as I stood up, I wanted to continue with the vision but I was still to easily distracted. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, Ozpin looked on it as he sipped his morning coffee next to the fountain where I'd been meditating.

I cracked my back and sighed. "I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating." I told him as I picked up my sword.

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. "Pardon my intrusion then. I was on my way to the administration building when I saw you." He adjusted his glasses and looked at me. "Is something troubling you Jayden?" He asked.

I thought about what I'd seen. What was it? I was sure it was a premonition but I had no idea how to read it. "I... I had a vision of the future." I told him.

"A vision of the future?" Ozpin asked putting his cup down. He stroked his chin and tilted his head forward, he looked like he was thinking, trying to figure out the implications of what I just said. "What did you see?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. It was a bunch of fractured images, I don't know what to make of them." I paused for a moment. Not sure what to say or do. I needed a Jedi to explain this to me, to tell me how to read my vision. But they're in somewhat short supply. I looked at him, he was probably the only one who would be able to help me. "How should I proceed, Professor?" I decided to ask.

Ozpin picked up his coffee and took another sip. "The future is not set in stone. It's constantly changing and shifting, altered by every choice we make." He said.

His words seemed strange to me. "But Jedi have used premonitions to guide their actions for millennia, but you're saying they're useless?" I asked. I didn't understand.

Ozpin smiled. "No, I didn't say that. It's all a matter of how you view it. You are trying to view your vision as an answer to question, when you should be seeing it as part of a larger question." He said. I scratched my head trying to figure out what he meant. Ozpin seemed to see my confusion and went on. "Use your foresight to guide your actions, use it to see what you should and should not do. But do not take it for absolute truth."

I contemplated his words for a moment. "I see. I'll bear this in mind." I said. I'd never considered the things he was saying. It was certainly a new perspective, one I'd do well to keep in mind.

Ozpin looked at me more closely. He used his cane to lift my shirt up slightly. "Jayden, may I ask what happened to you?" He asked as he noticed the bruising from night before.

"long story short, a ghost made me fight an older ghost." I told him prompting a look of disbelief. "Training, am I right?" I said trying to lighten the mood.

Ozpin shrugged his shoulders. "Very well. So, Pyrrha told me you're going to be doing some modifications to your light saber." He said as he began walking towards the administration building.

I followed him as we continued our conversation. "Just for he sake of functionality." I told him.

"May I see it?" He asked.

The idea of letting some one handle my Lightsaber made me nervous. It was my last resort when situations took a bad turn. Even so this was Professor Ozpin, if I couldn't trust my teacher I couldn't really trust anyone. I reached under my shirt and pulled my saber out form being tucked in my pants waist.

He took it and turned it over in his hands, sliding his finger from its rounded hilt to the red activator button. "It's a very simple design isn't it, are all lightsabers like this?" He asked as he held it at arms length. He pushed it causing the sky blue blade to extend.

"No." I told him. "Traditionally a Padawan, that's me, bases his saber design on his masters saber with minor changes for function. My master didn't have eyes so he needed something simple, something he could easily identify by touch." I said as he turned it off.

He handed it to me and smiled. "So simple yet so much meaning."

"Don't suppose you'd care to explain what you mean by that sir." I asked putting it back in my pants.

"It's simple, plain, a blank slate upon which you may build, much like your self. The question is, what will you build? Do you intend to continue down the dark path of you started all those years ago when you came here, or will you blaze a new one?" He said. "Now excuse me, I really must get to the administration office, and I believe you have some red sap to collect today."

He started heading toward the building but there was one last thing I needed to ask. "Professor, why did you assign us to the mission?"

He stopped for a moment and turned around. His head was tilted slightly. His eyes had a sort of empty, dead fish sort of look to them. "Because the Schnee Dust company requested Ms. Schnee be on the team, apparently they think if she is on the mission their property will be better protected. With that in mind it simply made sense for you to go along because of your experience and with that the rest of your team and team JNPR." I couldn't help but think how funny it was eu thought it'd be safe given that I intended to destroy that ship and every last clanker in it. "Have a good day, Mr. Keno." He said as he walked away.

Crimson red leaves crunched beneath our feet as we walked through the Forever Falls. "So why do we need to collect the red sap again?" Ruby asked.

I went over the various uses for red sap in my head. "Well, after carefully analyzing all the wonderful uses the sap has I've decided there's only one possible reason for Professor Peach having us do this. He's going to teach us how to make pancakes so we're going to need syrup." I said nodding my head. "Yeah, that's it."

Ruby snorted while Nora started going off on one of her rants. "Pancakes! I love pancakes! Ren when we get back to the room we need to make pancakes I mean why are we getting syrup if we aren't going to make pancakes that'd just be weird wouldn't it Ren?"

Nora kept going on as they went off to a tree to collect sap. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, yang and I found a tree and started collecting sap. "So how much of this stuff do we need?" Blake asked.

"A jar for each of us. Plus some for pancakes." Yang said

"Glad to see you and Nora are on the same page." I told her as I gave her a thumbs up.

Yang smiled and slapped my had away. "Oh, and like you don't want pancakes?" She asked.

I shrugged and put a lid on another jar of the thick red liquid. "Actually never had any. You'd be surprised what you do and don't find in the trash." I told her.

"You've been at this school how long and you haven't tried pancakes yet?" Blake asked as she filled another jar.

I pushed my braid behind my ear. "No, sorry I've sorely neglected my culinary education." I said as she handed the jar to me.

Blake was about to respond, but suddenly a loud growl sounded off in the distance. "Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked suddenly alert.

Two students, whom I recognized from team CRDL, ran towards us. "Urea Ursa!" One of them yelled.

Yang grabbed the one with the green mohawk up by the collar. "What, where? She asked him.

"Back there, it's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha dropped her jar. "Jaune!" She said

Ruby turned towards us. "Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch."

Pyrrha drew her sword and shield. "You two go with them, there could be more." She said to Ren and Nora. Weiss and I followed them to where Cardin and Jaune were, and what we saw wasn't good. Cardin crawled on the ground trying to escape, but the Ursa was too fast. "Oh no!" Pyrrha said as she assessed the situation.

As the Ursa brought it's massive claws down on him it looked like it was over. But at the last second Jaune slid between them and blocked with his shield. Weiss and I drew our swords ready to strike. I was prepared to jump and stab it between the plates on its back and neck while Weiss would go for the stomach. But Pyrrha stopped us. "Wait." She said.

Jaune pushed the Grimm back and started striking with his sword. The monster stumbled back but regained his balance and counter attacked pushing Jaune back towards Cardin. But that didn't stop him. He rushed the Ursa only to be knocked to the other side of e clearing. He got up and rushed in for a final strike. The Ursa raised his claws and my heart skipped a beat. Jaunes shield was too low, even of he managed to get a kill shot the Ursa would already have begun a strike that would inevitably kill him. But that didn't worry Pyrrha. She reached her arm out and it glowed with a faint black aura, Jaunes shield raised slightly causing the beasts claws to glance off the shield. He swung his sword, severing the head from its body.

"Uh, what?" Ruby asked.

"How did you..." Weiss began to ask.

Pyrrha smiled a shrugged slightly. "Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, my semblance is polarity."

"Woah," Ruby said amazed. "You can control poles."

"No you dunce!" Weiss said before I could. "It means she has control over magnetism."

Pyrrha began to walk away and Ruby and them began to talk but I was too busy thinking. Her semblance could prove useful against droids, especially droidekas, her magnetic powers could disrupt their shields. "You coming Jayden?" Weiss asked.

"Huh?" I asked snapping back to reality. "Oh yeah, just thinking." They didn't know it, but the mission just took an interesting turn in our favor,

"Why's there a box on my bed?" I asked later when we got back from classes.

Weiss walked up behind me and crossed our arms. "Well since we're teammates I decided to pull rank and asked the company to rush your delivery, your welcome." She said. "So what are you going to do now?" She asked.

I grabbed the box and ripped the brown wrapping off of it. Carefully I lifted the crystal out. It looked like two pyramids connected by their bases and was suspended in a slim glass tube. It had a faint, ice blue hue to it. Unlike most dust crystals it was almost clear, not solid in color. I grabbed the bag containing the shards of my sword and slung it over my back. "Thanks!" I said to Weiss. "Here, give this to professor port, I'm going to be gone for a few days." I said as Yang took the sword.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"There's a forge in the south of the city I'm going to be visiting. I'll be gone a few days while I repair my sword." I told them.

Ruby cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, Jayden, I don't think you can fix a sword that badly broken." She said.

I smiled and walked out the door. "Ancient Jedi smithing technique." I told them.

"When'd you learn it?" Blake asked.

"My master made me study it a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Later!" I told them.

I left and ran down the hall, I couldn't contain my excitement. If this worked both of my weapons would be far more powerfully em they were now. I ran I between students and nearly knocked Auburn down. "Hey! Watch it Keno!" She said as she braced her self against the wall.

"Sorry!" I yelled back. I made it to the forest where I began to run even faster.

Suddenly Qui-Gon decided to speak to me. "This plan is rather ambitious, are you sure you're up to it?" He asked.

I flipped over a fallen tree and began to slow down as I came to the city. "No idea. Guess we'll find out." I said.

"Very well. This will put your force training to the test, you will need to see as your master saw to accomplish this. To see the force as well as feel it. Do so and I'm sure you will succeed." He told me.

"Yes, my master." I said grinning like a child. Several hours later was at the forge. The sound of hammers hitting glowing red steel resounded and I took a station. It was easily over a hundred degrees and sweat immediately dripped down my face. I took my shirt off and grabbed my supplies. I secretly took my saber crystal out and turned it in my hand. It was jagged and nearly cut me. "Well, let's get down to business."

I worked non stop, day and night for three days. I didn't even stop to eat or drink, instead I used the force to sustain me. The head smith grew worried and tried to have me take a break several times but I refused. Qui-Gon was right, I had to see with the force, so I did. Very soon I saw the heat rising off the furnaces, the various auras inside the forge and outside in the street, I saw the molecular structure of the steel alter as I manipulated it with the force with each strike of the hammer, making it stronger and more durable. I saw the glow of the force in my crystal as I slowly placed it in the tang of the sword and cooled it. Several minutes later I took it out of the water and observed my work. The blade was straight and the top came up at a hundred and thirty degree angle. It now had a sky blue hue to the metal, an effect from the saber crystal now placed in the blade. I fixed the hilt back on and put it in its seethe. I now had the first Jedi Sword in thousands of years.

"Never seen a sword like that." One of the other smiths said.

I unsheathed it swung the sword down on a stack of three cinder blocks cutting them in half down the center. "No one has for nearly ten thousand years. Later." I told him as I left. With my sword finished all I needed now was to construct my new saber hilt. I already had all the pieces, now I just needed a workbench I could use were no one would see. My only real option was to use the schools work shop after it was closed. Hopefully Ozpin wouldn't mind.

"When is Jayden getting back?" Ruby asked as they started getting ready for bed. "He's been missing a lot of class." I'd been gone for a while, they where probably starting to get worried.

"Don't worry, Jayden's smart. He'll catch up quickly enough." Yang told her.

"Yeah, I didn't get this far by studying." All four of them turned towards the door as I pushed it open. "Evening ladies." I said walking in.

Yang jumped off her bed. She was wearing her pajamas like the other three. She grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me up and down. "Jayden you look like hell, what have you been doing?" She asked, concern crossing her face.

"I've been fixing my sword." I told her. "The process is a little... Draining." I stretched my hand out and my saber flew into it. "I also did this." She stepped back as my saber ignited. It extended wi they typical snap-hiss and the four of them looked on it with awe. The blade was a lighter shade blue, closer to ice than it's old sky blue. As the blade extended twelve this lines began to light up the same shade of blue. They extended from the base about four inches up. Where they stopped on the side with the new activation pad was a plexiglass window showing the crystal as it glowed. Instead of a button there was a thumb print scanner, so only I could activate it.

"It looks awesome." Ruby remarked. "What's it do now?" She asked looking from on top of her bed.

"You'll have to wait and see." I said putting it away. "Now go to bed. We got a lot of work to do tomorrow." And so we did. We trained like we'd never trained before. Oliver and I worked studying and analyzing our battle strategy. Ren worked on procuring the ammo and Weiss got us land surveys from her company. Our sparring became more brutal, and my personal training drove me past my physical and mental limits. And as days turned to weeks, the day of our mission finally arrived.


	26. Chapter 26

Authors Notes: Hello everyone. At the time of me posing this the premier of RWBY Vol. 3 is only a few hours away! The trailer was posted earlier and I can't wait to watch it. I'm continuing experimenting with a new POV, it's essentially first person but Jayden recounts events he wasn't present for. Plus I made a reference to a real person, tell me how that goes over. Also I'm going to start incorporating more scenes from Jayden's past on remnant. As always please enjoy and leave comments!

Chapter 26: Fear

Dust filled the air and sweat dripped down my face as I deflected blaster fire from a super battle droid. One of the clones sprinted and ducked behind a rock next to me. "We need to shut down this factory Commander Jayden!" He said as he blasted the droid away.

"I Know! I'm trying" I yelled as more droids moved across the Geonossian plains to our position.

The clones comm unit beeped and he answered it. A second later he started cursing like a corellian pilot. "General Harthow just informed me General Skywalker and Commander Tano's forces are going to arrive sooner than expected." He yelled as he turned around and signaled more of our troops to advance. Suddenly a burst of red light shot through the back of his helmet. He dropped to the ground and rolled over. "You failed us." He said before finally dying.

The scene changed and I wasn't on Geonossis anymore. It was night and I was surrounded by giant fungus as a crab droid approached us. "Hit the deck Jayden!" Someone yelled as its twin blasters fired on us. I threw my light saber and took out its front right leg. It collapsed as its circuitry sparked where I'd severed its leg and Apache finished the job. I looked around to see who'd yelled at me. My eyes widened as I saw master Harthow lift a rock with the force and throw it at a tank at the back of the enemy lines. He wore tan robes beneath modified clone armor that covered his torso and arms. His brown cloak should have been far too ineffective for battle, but for him it was an irrelevant factor. "Good work Jayden. Push forward men! We will win the day!" He yelled as we began to advance.

I ran next to him with my saber in hand, ready to cut down anything that stood in our way. But before I reached any droids something caught my ankle causing me to fall down. My face smashed into the soft, mushy dirt, I turned my head to look behind me. My heart skipped a beat as I saw a clone gripping my foot and pulling me towards him. Both his legs had been blown off and there was a gaping hole in his chest. "You were a Jedi." He said as his hands reached my knee. "You were supposed to save us!" He yelled as more dead clones began moaning and grabbing at me.

"Master help!" I yelled. But he couldn't hear me over the sounds of battle. I looked back at the clones. "I did the best I could, I was just a kid!" I said as I began reaching out with the force.

"You were our leader." Another said as he grabbed my arm.

"We trusted you!" one said as he grabbed my throat.

"We thought you could show us a life besides war!" There were hundreds, all grabbing at me, all pulling me into them as they began to form a single black void. They kept yelling at me, about my failures, how I let them down. Finally they pulled me into the void, and there was blackness.

I sat bolt upright in my bed knocking my sheets to the floor and causing my bed to sway in the air. I wiped cold sweat from my forehead and looked around. It was still dark out so I was about to go back bed when suddenly it dawned on me, it was the day of the mission. After that I knew I couldn't get back to sleep. I quietly got off my bed and dropped to the floor. Heading over to the corner I sat down to meditate, to try and invoke a vision of the upcoming mission. But it was useless, It seemed that I was too distracted to see the future. In the end I just left the room and started wandering the halls, before I knew it I was up on the roof again.

I stood on the edge and looked out to the horizon. The moon shined on the campus grounds, the emerald forest, the city, and the forever fall north of the city. If the ship was a capital ship like we thought it was then there was likely more then the one hundred droids we've confirmed, possibly upwards of six hundred. It would take them mere hours to raze all of this and kill everyone in sight before the military could stop them, if they could stop them at all. I couldn't let that happen. "My training is complete, master?" I asked into the air.

"No." He said, his voice resounding throughout the roof. "But I've trained you as far as I can." He told me.

"But if my training isn't done then what am I suppose to do?" I asked. My head dropped a little and doubt filled me.

"You're journey will be a long one, and you will have many more masters. But your time under my training is done, there is nothing left for me to teach you." Qui-Gn said.

I sighed and lifted my head. "Ok. Thank you, for everything." Suddenly a thought entered my head and I remembered my fight with Darth Sion. "If I need to talk to you you'll answer right?" I asked.

"Of course Jayden, and may the Force be with you." He said. His voice dissipating into the night.

"I thought I'd find you here." A new voice said.

I turned my head and saw Yang. Not see her in the normal sense, I saw her Aura, even brighter than before my training. It was like golden flames were filling her entire body, all of her rage, tranquility, hope, fear, her entire essence. "Yeah. Guess I've made it my spot, so to speak." I said.

She walked up next to me and rested her arm on my shoulder. "So today's the day." She said staring off into the distance. "Gotta admit, I'm kind of excited" She told me.

I turned my head. "Gotta admit, you sound a bit insane." I told her. The idea was foreign to me, being excited for war. Sparing is one thing, hell even street fights to the death are different from war. Simpler, less chaotic. It's easier to focus when you don't have to worry about a frag grenade or a stray plasma missile heading your way.

She traced the side of my face with the back of her hand. "Don't be afraid Jayden." She said. It was so simple, but was meant to provide an infinite amount of comfort.

I grabbed her hand and held it there. My heart started racing while calming me at the same time. "Have I ever told you about Master Yoda?" I asked her.

She shrugged and moved in closer. "Maybe. People from your Galaxy have such weird names I can never keep them straight."

I held back several sarcastic comments and continued. "Yoda was the oldest, and greatest, of all the Jedi. He trained me, and all the Jedi, for nearly one thousand years." I stopped for a second. I could sense Yang's disbelief but went on. "He once told me 'Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.'" I let go of Yang's hand and walked to the center of the roof. There I unsheathed my sword and held it out in front of me with both hands, it's faint blue glow standing out against the silver light of the moon. I began imaging opponents in my mind. Some with blades, some with guns, a variety of hybrid weapons, even some with lightsabers. I blocked and deflected. Parried, slashed, stabbed. Yang stood there, saying nothing, not even listening really, simply being there. "He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't entirely right either."

I did a back flip a threw my sword, calling it back to me with the Force. "Contradicting the wisdom of someone who's lived a thousand years? Really? What do you mean?" She asked. I could feel that she already knew, to some extent, what I meant, but she asked anyways, because she could also sense my feelings. She could sense that I needed to say it.

I stopped my hypothetical fight I twisted my sword into a reverse grip. "We feel fear for a reason, it does serve a purpose. As long as we don't let it control us it will makes us alert. If we choose to understand it then it allows us to see our weaknesses, and over come them." I said.

Yang nodded and walked over to me. "So, what do you fear?" She asked.

I turned to her. The sun began to rise over the horizon lighting the academy and the forest with a faint orange light. With my free hand I undid the bandana covering my eyes. It fell to my feet. I looked at Yang and took her in. Her long, flowing yellow hair. Her striking purple eyes that could turn red with rage. Her slim but firm build. Our eyes locked and I said one, single word. "You." Yang nodded. She already knew what I meant by this, but she wanted to hear it. I wanted to hear it. "And not just you. Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Oliver, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, everyone." Tears filled my eyes. I dropped my sword and stepped forward. I grabbed Yang and pulled her in. She buried her head in my shoulder and my head rested in her hair. "I care for you guys. I can't lose you." I said.

Yang pulled her head back a little and smiled. "And that's why you're leading us. She said.

I pulled back a little. "What?" I asked. Unsure of what she meant.

"The reason your leading us. You know what's at stake. You know the pain of losing people to war, that's why you won't. You'll pull us all through." Her words washed over me. I could tell she meant every word.

I let go of her. "If only it where that easy." I said under my breath.

She bent over and picked up my sword. She was about to hand it to me when she noticed something etched into the blade near the guard. "Huh. Never noticed this." She said taking a closer look. A flower, with petals arranged in a jar shape and more circling around the base. "Is that a daffodil?" She asked.

I took the sword from her a sheathed it. "Yup. I figured you guys all have emblems, so I wanted one" I told her as we headed towards the stairs.

"But why a daffodil?" She asked.

"You speak the language of flowers?" I asked in return.

"I don't think you actually speak flowers Jayden."

I laughed and shrugged her comment off. "It means new beginnings."

Ozpin watched our ship as it left the campus. He sipped his coffee and sighed. "They aren't ready, Master Jinn." Ozpin said as he activated his computer.

"No, they aren't." Qui- Gon replied. "But it is the will of the force."

Ozpin looked through files on his computer. He'd received a new report fro Qrow, one he couldn't ignore. "It seems they are to be forged in battle, in the harshness of reality."

Qui- Gon was silent for a moment. "You may be training one of the greatest heroes your world has ever known."

Ozpin paused, his coffee half way to his mouth. "Or its greatest villain."

I sat in the hold of the ship between Ren and Oliver. None of us talked. Oliver sharpened his sword, Norra slept with her head on Ren's shoulder, and Ruby listened to her head phones. I sat with my eyes closed, meditating, focusing myself before the mission. I focused on the sound of the ships engines, losing myself in it's rhythmic hum. I felt the force flow through me, I felt the aura from my comrades, I felt they were troubled. Afraid of what was to come, but even more then that, they were excited. "Are you surprised? They are warriors, finally given the chance to prove themselves."

I opened my eyes and looked around. Everyone was doing what the had been, but seemed totally unaware that I'd woken up, or of the man with decayed flesh standing before me. "Hey Sion, if your here for a rematch we're going to have to reschedule." I said, reaching for my lightsaber in case he decided to strike anyways.

He simply stood there and looked at me, judging me. For what, I have no idea. "That is not why I am here." He said. "Tell me, you know what they feel, but what is it you feel?" He asked me as he paced back and forth across the length of the hold.

"Don't you live in my head? Shouldn't you know?" I replied as I got up. "Also why are you still here? Didn't I already beat you?"

He stopped pacing and turned around. He looked at me, his milky white eye staring into me as intently as his working eye. "In life I discovered a way to retain my life upon death. By focusing on my pain I was able to keep my life force in my body even after it died. The Exile made me see the error of those ways, and she released me." Yang stared at my empty spot. As far as she knew I was there, but she could sense something was off. Darth Sion saw this and grinned. "Upon my death I attained a form similar to your masters, but infinitely less powerful. Though I retain my individuality in the force I can only appear to someone by using their mind as a vessel. I waited alone for nearly four thousand years before your master summoned me into you, and upon my defeat at your hands I choose to stay."

I rubbed my face with my hands. "Great, now I've got an ancient Sith Lord for a room mate. Just what I needed."

He waved his gloved hand to the side and shook his head. "That is not what I wish to talk about. What do you feel? I must hear you say it. You must speak it with your own tongue." He told me.

I thought for a second. I'd already told yang that morning, and he lived in my head so there was no use lying. "I'm afraid of losing my friends." I finally admitted.

He laughed at me, laughed at my answer to his question. My hand lit on fire and lightning arced between my finger tips as my anger started to boil. "You have come to believe your own lies. Let me show you the truth." Suddenly the scene changed. We were no longer on the air ship but in an alley in some city. It was night time, I looked around to see where we were when I noticed a large building illuminating the sky line with a single, large snow flake. The Schnee Dust headquarters. "Here we are, the kingdom you call Atlas. Winter, six years ago."

I slowly looked behind me and saw a child crouched against the wall behind some trash cans. He held a short length of pipe in his small hands. He was short, his close were too big for him but it probably didn't matter given his severely malnourished frame. His black hair was messy and partially covered his eyes. He shivered as electricity ran up his arms as he desperately tried to stay warm on the cold winters night. "That's me." I said matter of factly. It was before I met Torchwick so I didn't have my sword. Before that I'd used various weapons as I found them. Pipes, bats, knifes. Anything that could kill.

"You did what you had to to survive." Sion said. A man stumbled passed us, he carried an empty beer bottle loosely in his hand, the smell of cheap liquor wafted off his breath. "You hardened your heart." The younger version of me slowly got up and reached his hand out. "You forsook compassion, you acted on instinct." The man suddenly stopped. His head became rigid, in his drunken state he wasn't able to process what was happening. His head jerked sharply to the right, and his body fell to the ground. My younger self got up quickly and started searching his body. Money, valuables, anything.

Seeing the depraved creature Id been filled me with emotions. Anger, regret, sorrow. "Why show me this?" I asked him. What reason did he have for this?

"To show you the truth." His said, his deep voice resonating in the night. "It is not losing your friends you fear, that is merely a symptom. I side effect of a deeper cause." He said as my younger self jumped onto a fire escape and onto the roof of a nearby building. I'd go on to murder five more people that night, in a city like this six dead people wouldn't draw attention.

"All right Doctor Phil, why don't you explain exactly what I'm afraid of?" I said, getting annoyed at him.

Sion began to circle me. "You fear what you are becoming. You fear caring for your comrades, for you fear losing them, just as you lost so many in the Clone Wars. You fear not being that creature you just saw, at least then you didn't have to worry about people."

"Bull shit!" I yelled. My Hand lit up in bright orange flames and I launched them at him. Darth Sion lifted his hand up and knocked it to the side. He twisted his hand as if he were holding something and suddenly I felt pressure applied to my throat. I was lifted a few inches off the ground. My flames died down as I gasped for air, I wasn't suffocating but it was still difficult to breathe.

"Search your feelings Jayden. You know it to be true." He said as he let me go. "Do not run from this pain. Do as I did, embrace the pain. Let it fuel you and strengthen you. But do it for the right reasons." And with that he and he environment faded. I was back in the ship, sitting between Oliver and Ren.

"Jayden." Yang said. "We're here."


End file.
